Defense Watch: Fighter Fall, Explosive Capacity, Remote ID Award, C-UAS
Fighter Fall. The U.S. Air Force’s fiscal 2024 budget request proposes the divestment of 131 fighter aircraft, including 42 A-10s, 57 F-15 C/Ds, and 32 Block 20 F-22 aircraft while the request proposes a buy of 48 Lockheed Martin F-35As and 24 Boeing F-15EXs. Service officials said that the future years defense plan includes a decrease of 425 Air Force fighters, as the service moves to the Next Generation Air Dominance manned fighter and the un-crewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
…F135 MICAP. Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter and Lt. Gen. Richard Moore, the service’s deputy chief of staff for plans and programs, told the House Armed Services Committee’s air and land forces panel on March 29 that the Air Force is making progress in improving F-35A readiness through standing up depot capacity and that the service is “recovering from the F135 [engine] MICAP [mission capability] issue with today only five aircraft awaiting engines, power modules, or fan modules.” Raytheon Technologies’ Pratt & Whitney is the contractor for the F135 and the slated F135 Engine Core Upgrade. “The two largest sustainment cost drivers the Air Force controls are the number of aircraft possessed and programmed flying hours, and the major cost categories are parts, people, energy, and consumables,” Hunter and Moore told the subcommittee in prepared testimony. “The Air Force is continuing work with the F-35 Joint Program Office, Navy, and industry to identify and evaluate opportunities to increase depot repair capacity and further reduce the cost of materiel and manpower.”
(My highlighting)
https://www.defensedaily.com/defense-watch-fighter-fall-explosive-capacity-remote-id-award-c-uas/uncategorized/
