Officials: Fighters, bombers at breaking point

[unhappycamper]

Officials: Fighters, bombers at breaking point
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 6:34:46 EST

WASHINGTON — Air Force officials are warning that unless their budget is increased dramatically, and soon, the military’s high-flying branch won’t dominate the skies as it has for decades.

After more than seven years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Air Force’s aging jet fighters, bombers, cargo aircraft and gunships are at the breaking point, they say, and expensive, ultramodern replacements are needed fast.

“What we’ve done is put the requirement on the table that says, ‘If we’re going to do the missions you’re going to ask us to do, it will require this kind of investment,”’ Maj. Gen. Paul Selva, the Air Force’s director of strategic planning, said.

“Failing that, we take what is already a geriatric Air Force,” Selva said, “and we drive it for another 20 years into an area of uncertainty.”

An extra $20 billion each year over the next five — beginning with an Air Force budget of about $137 billion in 2009 instead of the $117 billion proposed by the Bush administration — would solve that problem, according to Selva and other senior Air Force officers.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_WornOutByWar_080218/



uhc comment: You fuckers already have $735,700,000,000 (3/4 of a trillion dollars) in the 2009 budget. Deal with it.

[northzax]

1. I think they all need to be fired

frankly, we haven't had a fighter engagement of note in 15 years, how did our fighters get so beaten up?

and who, exactly, is going to be challenging us for air supremacy? the Russians again? they haven't built a new plane in 20 years. or a new model in 30. The Chinese? they're still buying planes from the Russians. India? they have our castoffs. it takes serious time and money to build an aerospace industry capable of producing front line fighter planes (by comparison, rockets and satellites are a piece of cake)

[FalconsRule]

3. Are you serious??

"frankly, we haven't had a fighter engagement of note in 15 years, how did our fighters get so beaten up?"

Please tell me you're kidding.

[Hugabear]

2. If we kept to ourselves, we wouldn't need all this expensive military hardware

Just a thought!