Gates Admit's "Strategic Risk" In USAF Plans

F-35 A Joint Strike Fighter - USAF (Image from Defes@net)

From Worldwide War Pigs:

The USAF top leadership and Defense Secretary Gates are putting the U.S. at "strategic risk".

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates agreed with an Air Force recommendation to retire 250 older aircraft early, to allow the service to reprogram money to other areas. "[The decision] allows us to take some additional strategic risk over the next six to seven years, which we think, given the threat environment and the current strategic interests, is a good time to take this risk," Secretary Gates said.

While all of the USAF should have been taken care of across the "full spectrum" by previous USAF caretakers, it is obvious that USAF can't cover all of its mission needs over the long term in stable fashion. Where stability is funding, training, spare parts, facilities upkeep and so on. Here, the USAF is robbing different communities to shore up others.

The service will reinvest the money into modifying the remaining aircraft, improving munitions and moving manpower into new high-demand requirements. These requirements include unmanned aerial vehicles, the nuclear enterprise and in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

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My Comment: Worldwide War Pigs has been covering the problems at the USAF for quite some time now, especially focusing on the F-35. I have found his analysis to be always a must read .... especially the above post.