The Air Force wants to buy lots of new aircraft in fiscal 2017, but service leaders say it's still fewer than they want, according to budget documents obtained by Air Force Times.

The service is expected to spend $10.1 billion on aircraft procurement alone, according to documents released Tuesday morning. It would also spend $2.5 billion on procurement for space operations.

The Air Force wants to buy 43 new F-35 Lightning II fifth-generation fighters, 15 KC-46 Pegasus tankers, 24 MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft and about a dozen new C-130J airframes.

But service leaders said budget cuts have forced them to defer some purchases of F-35s and upgrades to fourth-generation aircraft.

According to official documents, the Air Force is deferring purchasing five F-35s planned for FY2017. The Air Force variant of the aircraft, the F-35A, is estimated to cost about $100 million per unit, according to Lockheed Martin.

The high cost of the aircraft is forcing Air Force leaders to make decisions between their various platforms. The service is starting work on the Long Range Strike Bomber — designed to eventually replace all B-52s and B-1s — and also wants to purchase more KC-46 tankers.

But in the official documents, service leaders said purchasing the larger aircraft will likely come at the expense of buying more F-35s.

The budget documents also contain funds to keep the A-10 for close-air support missions, a move long advocated by Congress. Lawmakers have in previous budgets removed any funding the Air Force tried to earmark for retiring the planes.

Air Force leaders have protested needing to rely on older aircraft, and said they need more funding to modernize and upgrade the fleet. The average age of aircraft is 27 years, the Air Force said.

Were they cars, 21 types of aircraft would qualify for antique license plates in most U.S. states, the service noted.

The service also hopes to reduce the cost of flying the planes. Flight hours are budgeted at $6.7 billion, down slightly from $6.9 billion in FY2015 and $6.8 billion in FY2016. Pilots could also see flight hours capped at 1.16 million for the entire service, documents showed.

Share:
In Other News
Load More