GAO Report on U.S. Tactical Military Aircraft

[rangerrebew]

GAO Report on U.S. Tactical Military Aircraft
December 21, 2022 10:16 AM • Updated: December 21, 2022 11:13 PM
The following is the Government Accountability Office report, Tactical Aircraft Investments: DoD Needs Additional Portfolio Analysis to Inform Future Budget Decisions.

From the report
What GAO Found

Tactical aircraft—fixed-wing fighter and attack planes—provide air-to-air, air-to-ground, and electronic warfare capabilities that are vital to combat operations and homeland defense. Recent studies conducted by the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Joint Staff and the military services have found that DOD needs to modernize its tactical aircraft fleet. Seven of eight studies found that existing aircraft did not have the capabilities needed to compete in future combat scenarios and some noted the need to invest in advanced technologies to address future needs. Three of the studies, which the Navy prepared, identified shortfalls in the Navy’s capacity, or inventory of tactical aircraft.
Over the next 5 years, the military services are proposing to acquire new aircraft while modernizing existing ones. Overall, the Air Force and Navy expect to spend roughly $20 billion annually across the tactical aircraft portfolio through 2027 to develop and produce new aircraft (see figure). At the same time, the services are proposing to retire a significant number of aircraft, reducing overall tactical aircraft capacity.

DOD is making significant development and procurement investments but has not yet conducted integrated acquisition portfolio-level analyses of its tactical aircraft platforms. GAO has long reported on needed improvements to DOD’s portfolio management practices such as collectively analyzing program interdependencies and risks. Portfolio management best practices state that comprehensive portfolio analyses should include potential tradeoffs and risks, among other things. While DOD has taken steps to improve portfolio management practices and conducted some integrated portfolio analyses, it has not yet conducted such an analysis of its fixed-wing tactical aircraft platform portfolio. Further, DOD guidance does not require that information underlying these analyses be reported to Congress. Without an analysis of the tactical aircraft platform portfolio and a requirement to report underlying information externally, DOD and Congress will continue to have limited information when making major investment decisions.

Why GAO Did This Study

https://news.usni.org/2022/12/21/gao-report-on-u-s-tactical-military-aircraft

[Timber Rattler]

In other related news:

After years of arguing, Congress is finally letting the US Air Force send some A-10 Warthogs to the boneyard

https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-is-letting-us-air-force-retire-a10-warthogs-2022-12

Congress has finally agreed to bid adieu to nearly two dozen A-10 Warthogs, after lawmakers fervently defended the aging aircraft and stopped the Air Force from retiring the aircraft. It marks the first time in decades that lawmakers have agreed to put A-10s out to pasture.

The 57-foot, 6-inch wingspan close-support aircraft has been in service since the 1970s. The signature "brrrttt" noise emitted from its 30 mm Gatling-style guns, which aided troops extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan in addition to playing a key role in the first Gulf War, helped garner a fanatic following among service members, as well as Washington lawmakers who have fervently protected it from retirement.

But under the latest defense budget agreement, which was passed by the House on Thursday and is expected to pass the Senate soon, 21 A-10s from the Indiana Air National Guard's 122nd Fighter Wing will be retired and sent to the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base boneyard in Tucson, Arizona.