{"id":83716,"date":"2023-04-27T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/04\/27\/its-time-to-resource-the-air-force-fighter-enterprise-the-us-needs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:44:21","slug":"its-time-to-resource-the-air-force-fighter-enterprise-the-us-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/opinion\/2023\/04\/27\/its-time-to-resource-the-air-force-fighter-enterprise-the-us-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to resource the Air Force fighter enterprise the US needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Air superiority involves protecting friendly forces from aerial attack, while concurrently empowering offensive power projection by suppressing enemy defenses. The former is key to not losing a war. The latter is what brings victory. Joint combat power is not viable without control of the sky. Investment in a capable, sufficiently sized fighter enterprise is the down payment required for successful joint force operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given this stark reality, it is crucial that Congress block the Air Force\u2019s budget-driven request<\/a> to retire 32 of its F-22s, while also providing the resources necessary for tomorrow\u2019s air superiority mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Air Force\u2019s fighter inventory stands at less than half<\/a> of what it was in 1990. Does anyone think the world is any safer today? Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and Chinese aggression in the Pacific, combined with Iran\u2019s and North Korea\u2019s aggressive nuclear ambitions, suggest otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These aircraft average nearly three decades in age<\/a>. They were flown hard in nonstop combat deployments that began with 1991\u2032s Operation Desert Storm and have never stopped. That has exacted an extreme toll on their physical condition. Old, small and worn is a recipe for disaster when facing a burgeoning set of global security demands \u2014 but that is an accurate description of today\u2019s Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on Air Force fighters is important; while the Navy and Marine Corps have fighters, they largely exist to support organic functions like carrier battle group defense and Marine Air-Ground Task Force support. Even if these objectives are met, these fighter inventories are too small to meet large-scale combatant command requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same holds true for allied air forces; U.S. Air Force fighters stand alone in the ability to directly meet combatant command demands as job No. 1 in large volume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force leaders have long known these realities, and that is why they made plans in the 1980s and 1990s to replace F-15s, F-16s and A-10s with a new generation of fighters in the form of the F-22 and F-35. However, post-Cold War cuts, compounded by a subsequent focus on combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, saw these plans go by the wayside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The requirement for 781 F-22s was cut numerous times, with 187 aircraft ultimately procured before production was canceled in 2009, representing less than half the stated military requirement. F-35s were supposed to be acquired in high volume \u2014 with Defense Secretary Robert Gates committing<\/a> to the Air Force procuring 80 F-35s per year from 2015 through the 2020s, with the final Air Force F-35As procured in 2034.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That did not happen \u2014 with every annual request far below that figure. That is why the current fighter force is in a freefall<\/a>, with aircraft retiring without new backfills (note the F-15s withdrawn<\/a> from Kadena Air Force Base<\/a> last year without a direct replacement).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bottom line: The nation has assumed tremendous risk in its fighter modernization portfolio; the legacy fighter backstop is out of life while demand is surging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why Congress must stop further erosion in the Air Force\u2019s fighter inventory and block the request to retire 32 F-22s. Service leaders are arguing<\/a> that the F-22s in question are early production examples that do not meet combat deployment standards. This is partially true, but even these versions can defeat any fourth-generation enemy fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\t