Wisconsin ANG
Washington Times: Air Force looks for high tech fixes to 'geriatric' fleet of fighters in race vs. China
State of U.S. air power called 'geriatric
The Air Force believes it can develop, test and field a sophisticated 21st-century fighter jet within five years.
Five years after that, the plan is to do it all again.
In its quest to incorporate tomorrow’s technology into today’s airplanes, the Air Force is embarking on one of its most sweeping overhauls in decades, moving away from reliance on expensive programs that produce jets expected to last 50 years or longer and toward a fleet with a variety of aircraft, each with a specialized mission and a much shorter runway life.
The service’s Digital Century Series — the successor to the Century Series program, which ran through the 1950s and early 1960s — calls for a revolutionary partnership between the Pentagon and private industry. It demands that military contractors draw up plans, conduct all necessary research and development, and deliver combat-ready planes to the Air Force within five years.
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WNU Editor: This is not going to be easy. There is now so much tech involved in planes that changing it on a dime while making sure that all the other systems are going to work together .... sighhh .... in my experience it is usually the most expensive option. And as for the Air Force now looking at having throw-away equipment that has a projected life span of 5 or 10 years. If the past and current situation is any indication, they will actually try to wring 20 or 25 out of it because of costs. One other note when it comes to a government program .... expect any government program to take twice as long to deliver half of what was promised, at a minimum of four times the estimated cost.
