Navy takes aim at ‘fighter gap’
By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 22, 2010 10:06:29 EST
Each Navy strike fighter squadron will lose some of its 10 or 12 aircraft between deployments — one of several details emerging about the service’s plans to ease an upcoming shortage of strike fighters.
The so-called fighter gap is coming as older F/A-18 A through D-model Hornet aircraft reach the end of their operational lives, not enough new E and F Strike Fighters are built to replace them and production of the later F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) lags.
In a draft version of an upcoming statement to Congress obtained by Defense News, Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, writes that the reduction in squadron size to “the minimum required” will take place during “non-deployed phases.”
Navy Hornet squadrons already have been reduced to 10 aircraft per squadron. Super Hornet squadrons flying E and F models generally have 12 aircraft each.
The service will accelerate the transition of five F/A-18C squadrons to E or F models using available Super Hornets, the draft statement said, “and will transition two additional legacy squadrons using Super Horner attrition reserve aircraft.”
Navy officials would not comment on the impact of using spare aircraft to fill out operational squadrons.
“We will not discuss information in a draft,” said Roughead spokesman Cmdr. Charlie Brown.
The fighter gap, forecast to peak around 2016, has been a matter of debate for a couple years, and was a major focus for requirements and budget planners over the past year. Planners, according to Navy Undersecretary Bob Work, had “pretty much eliminated any perceived strike fighter shortfall” in developing a new aviation procurement plan.
But a Pentagon restructuring of the JSF program announced Feb. 1 pushed back the service entry dates for the plane, which is being built in separate versions for the Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy. The move reopened the gap issue for the Navy.“We felt very comfortable that we had a good, solid plan prior to the JSF restructuring,” Work said Feb. 2. “And the JSF restructuring will cause us to look at it one more time.”
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told Congress Feb. 3, “The Navy and the Marine Corps have really worked hard to mitigate this strike fighter shortfall, and I give them a lot of credit for that.” The services, Mullen said, reduced the shortfall from about 245 aircraft “down to a very low number” prior to the restructuring.
New in-service dates for the JSF have not been announced. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said the system design and development phase of the program would be pushed back one year to 2015. Air Combat Command chief Gen. William Fraser said Feb. 19 his service is re-evaluating the JSF’s in-service date.
Roughead, along with Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, were to appear before the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 24 and testify the following day before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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John Reed contributed to this report.
