US Air Force plans to reduce nearly 500 aircrafts from its fleet over the next 5 years if the Pentogon’s Fiscal 2015 budget request is ap...
The FY 15 budget proposes a leaner and capable air force with rapidly deployable, self-sustaining platforms that can defeat more technologically advanced adversaries.
USAF will retire the 50-year old Lockheed Martin U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane in favor of the unmanned Northrop Grumman Global Hawk in support of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in FY 16, and the single-mission A-10 Thunderbolt II in FY 15.
Retiring the 40-year old A-10 twin jet originally designed to kill enemy tanks will save $3.5 billion and will be replaced with the multi role F-35 Lightning II by the early 2020s.
The Air Force has proposed a topline budget of $109.3 billion, supporting a total force end strength of 483,000 personnel down from the current strength of 503,000.
The Air Force's top recapitalization priorities consists the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker, F-35A Lightning II and the Long Range Strike Bomber programs.
If the service is forced to return to sequestration-level funding in FY16, the Air Force would retire its entire KC-10 Extender tanker and Global Hawk Block 40 fleets and buy fewer F-35As.
Apart from eliminating entire A-10 and U-2 fleets, significant reductions in the number of F-15s and MQ-1s is also proposed.
