Air Force decreases rate of F-35 procurement - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Air Force decreases rate of F-35 procurement

The Air Force plans to slow procurement of its version of the next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, but will hold steady on the total number of jets it will buy, the service’s top leaders said Feb. 3.

“As part of a management decision on the F-35 program, we’re determined that we’re not ready to ramp up to full-rate production,” Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said at a Pentagon news conference. “So we depressed the rate of procurement for a few years while we work through the concurrency issues.”

The service has already taken delivery of 12 F-35s, which are being used for testing and eventually training, but won’t get as many planes as quickly as it once hoped.

“Clearly the management part in this is hitting the sweet spot, which allows you to acquire a plane, but not so many you have to go back and modify them because of what you learn in subsequent tests,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said at the same news conference.

The Pentagon hasn’t finalized a full production plan yet, but an Air Force white paper that accompanied the news conference said the service expects to have 160 aircraft in 2017.

Schwartz said the service is holding firm to a total of 1,763 F-35s. Donley said Feb. 2 that the Pentagon is committed to buying the full order of 2,443 aircraft of all three variants. Any decision to modify that number would have to happen in the 2020s.

“That call is well into the future,” Schwartz said.

Of six aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the Air Force will decide to start training flights based on a number of factors, including the status of the test program and aircraft reliability, Schwartz said.

“The plan will be to start flying, not training, but to start flying with test-qualified aviators initially to do what we call local area orientation,” he said. “We will build to a threshold, which will allow the training leadership in the Air Force to declare ‘ready to train’ with other than test-qualified aviators.”

To account for the delayed F-35, the Air Force will modify about 350 F-16 multirole fighters. Older F-16s will receive structural modifications, while newer jets will get modernized avionics and structural life extensions, Schwartz said.

The service will lose 102 A-10 close-air support jets, but 246 planes will remain. Schwartz stressed that other aircraft — including F-16, AC-130, F-35 and even the B-52 — can do the close-air support mission.