Last month, I wrote about the U.S. Air Force’s 16 years of aerial combat. These many years of continuing aerial engagements have honed the Air Force’s combat skills and have resulted in the most combat-experienced force ever. But this unprecedented “long war” has also worn out many of the weapons systems necessary to fight the nation’s wars. They are flying in hostile terrain, with unusual stresses placed upon the airframes, and flying at a much higher utilization rate (flight hours) than originally planned for.

Many of these aircraft have long ago exceeded their intended service life. Aircraft are designed and manufactured to a specific “estimated service life” measured in years and also to “flying time” measured in flight hours. Many factors come into play, such as number of cycles (takeoffs and landings), or employment envelopes, such as a high “g” maneuver fighter versus a more stable flight envelope flown by transport, bomber or tanker aircraft.

As these aircraft reach their programmed service life, they should be retired. For starters, they become prohibitively expensive to maintain. Spare parts are scarce and expensive, and these tired planes are unable to perform their expected mission profiles. Earlier this month Pope AFB had a realignment ceremony whereby they transferred the 41st Airlift Squadron to Little Rock AFB. They are also sending the squadron’s Vietnam-era C-130Es to the boneyard. I flew these same old airplanes at Pope over 30 years ago. In recent years, they have had payload and other flight restrictions due to airframe fatigue. In other words, they simply could not perform many of the missions they were designed to perform. One might wonder if the Base Realignment and Closing Commission (BRAC) had not directed this squadron’s transfer from Pope to Little Rock, just how long these C-130Es would be flying in a limited capacity.

The Air Force is hurting. One out of every seven of the service’s aircraft is either grounded or has restrictions that limit full mission utilization. Many of these aircraft should have been retired years ago. However, there are legislators in the Congress who have insisted Air Force fighter, bomber and transport aircraft NOT be retired from their states or congressional districts. This is shameful! Congress must simply lift these prohibitions and restrictions and let the Air Force retire these costly antiquated warbirds.

The weapon system procurement holidays of the 1990s, motivated by the end of the Cold War, has left this nation with an old and rapidly aging Air Force inventory. The average age of today’s Air Force fleet of aircraft is 24 years. There is an annual 6 percent increase in manpower costs to keep these aircraft airworthy and flying. We have aircrews flying B-52 bombers that were flown by their grandfathers decades ago. Only two of every three Air Force aircraft today are ready for flight, and 20 percent of the Air Force procurement budget is spent on modifications of old airplanes. We should be spending that money buying new aircraft in much greater numbers.

The Air Force has about 6,000 airplanes. They are buying about 60 new aircraft each year. During WWII, we were cranking out 60 or more warplanes on any given day. In a 10-year span from 1935 to 1945, America produced 12,732 B-17 bombers alone. Our wartime industry was manufacturing B-29 bombers at the rate of 800 per year in the 1940s. And then, of course, industry was also producing several types of fighter aircraft, transports, etc. Should the Air Force continue to buy but 60 aircraft of all types per year, the math is pretty easy. It will take 100 years to recapitalize the entire 6,000-airplane fleet. Guess what the average age of that fleet will be then.

There is no more pressing need than to replace the KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. The average age of this aircraft is 45 years. That’s right … 45 years! Now get this. DOD’s Quadrennial Defense Review last year determined that the KC-135 “R” models will be viable until 2040. That’s another 33 years of “viability” as aerial tankers for this nation’s warfighters. We could then have aircrews flying these old aircraft whose parents are only in elementary school right now.

A request for proposal for a new tanker was submitted to industry within the past month. Later this year, a contract will be awarded, and several years from now, we will see the first of the new tankers enter service. With the presently planned funding for these new aircraft, it will take over 30 years to replace the entire aerial refueling fleet. Conveniently for some, that turns out to be 2040.

Currently, there are new high-tech, incredibly capable fighter aircraft under production, albeit in fiscally restrained numbers. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are also being produced in limited numbers. There remains a need for a new bomber to replace the 50-year-old B-52s and the limited capability inherent in the B-1 bomber. The Air Force is in the early development stage for a modern and sophisticated bomber that “could” begin production by 2018.

There is a heavy price to pay for being the world’s only superpower. It demands the best air and space force with aircrews and weapon systems that can fly, fight and win in any hostile environment. I am convinced this nation cannot afford to do otherwise. But there is that price to pay. The U.S. Air Force leadership estimates it will take an additional $20 billion each year for the next five-plus years to fully recapitalize their aging fleet.