Back to news

September 18, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval

The US Navy is short almost 100 fighter pilots

WASHINGTON — A rash of technical and safety problems has left the U.S. Navy's fleet short by about 90 fighter pilots. Fixing the issue is an uphill battle, a top aviator said last week.

The Navy has seen a slew of issues, including problems with the oxygen flow to the pilots causing negative and unsafe physiological responses in pilots and trainees, as well as readiness and engine trouble with aircraft. All of this has extended the time it takes to create a fighter pilot from three to four years, and the issues have created a gap in the number of pilots in the fleet, naval air training chief Rear Adm. Robert Westendorff said at a virtual Tailhook symposium on Saturday.

“We can't just snap our fingers and produce those immediately. The time to train of a strike fighter pilot is about three years; due to the bottlenecks we've had, its getting closer to four years,” Westendorff said. “We're doing everything we can to get that back down to the three-year mark. But the recovery plan is a three-year plan. And if we stay on track, it should take us about three years.”

An issue with the T-45′s engines “dramatically reduced” the availability of the aircraft this year, but the program is getting back on track, Westendorff said.

Additionally, the general shortfall of F/A-18 Super Hornets throughout the fleet has impacted training, but Naval Aviation has been focused on bringing those numbers back up in recent years by fixing jets unable to fly for mechanical reasons.

Naval air training has been beset in recent years with controversy over the so-called physiological episodes, the cause of which has been very hard to pin down.

The Navy now believes it's a complex issue involving air flow and air pressure related to the breathing apparatus, and measures have been put in place to mitigate it, USNI News reported in June.

https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2020/09/17/the-us-navy-is-short-almost-100-fighter-pilots/

On the same subject

  • RTX awarded $400 million to deliver StormBreaker smart weapons to the U.S. Air Force

    January 6, 2024 | International, Land

    RTX awarded $400 million to deliver StormBreaker smart weapons to the U.S. Air Force

    StormBreaker is fielded on the F-15E Strike Eagle and F/A-18E/F SuperHornet with testing underway on all variants of the F-35

  • How does the US Air Force plan to keep bombers affordable?

    September 21, 2018 | International, Aerospace

    How does the US Air Force plan to keep bombers affordable?

    By: Daniel Cebul WASHINGTON — The U.S. strategic bomber program plays a vital role in U.S. nuclear and conventional posture, providing both penetrating and standoff capabilities that allow the U.S. to hit targets almost anywhere in the world. But as the Air Force expands from 312 to 386 operational squadrons — planning to increase the bomber squadron from nine to 14 — how can the service keep costs within reason? A key to keeping down modernization costs will be the force's ability to field systems that can easily be updated as new technology develops, according to Gen. Timothy Ray, commander of Global Strike Command. “What I really want to drive home is that if we have a force, whatever the size of the force, it has to be affordable,” Ray said at the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference on Sept. 18. Ray believes prices will be affordable depending on the service's “ability to field a relevant force as part of our integrated capabilities, both nuclear and conventional, that has a rapid capability to be updated and modified.” Communications systems, weapons, sensors and defensive capabilities are very sensitive to technological change, which “is already going on much faster than what we can field right now using the old legacy processes,” Ray said. Ray pointed to the B-21 bomber as having "the right attributes that are going to set us up for success.” Others suggest that looking at the unit price for bombers is deceptive and does not allow the Air Force to address its critical modernization needs. “It is very easy to look at individual unit cost [per bomber], but that does not equate to value," Retired Lt. Gen David Deptula said. "People, particularly programmers, like to talk about cost, but they don't talk about the effectiveness piece.” This sentiment was echoed by retired Lt. Gen. Bob Elder Jr., who feels the public and some military members do not appreciate the active role bombers play in defending the U.S. As busy as these bombers are, Edler said, “it's a bargain” for how much the Air Force pays for them. Deptula also believes that if the Air Force is serious about modernization, it is past time that requirements for meeting U.S. strategic goals determine force structure, rather than depending on “arbitrary budget lines.” “For way too long our force structure has been solely driven by the budget and not the war-fighting demands of our nation's security strategy,” he said. “I dare say no one will argue with the preamble of the Constitution, which basically talks about how we form government to provide for the common defense, and then to promote the general welfare. It doesn't say the other way around.” “People will say the new enterprise is going to be too expensive, so don't keep it. I don't agree,” Ray said, adding that a more competitive approach will enable the Air Force to drive down procurement and modernization costs. “I have got to know our competitive nature of our approach will draw the talent from industry; or if I'm not quite certain with a technical capability or the capability is so far advanced I can't draw the talent from industry, now I find myself with an important issue,” Ray noted. In regard to ensuring the service can get the funding to grow its squadrons, Ray added: “Where you drop cost down and have a rapid modification capability or a relevant force for an extended period of time, then you begin to tell a more complete story,” which he explained should help dollars keep flowing into necessary programs. https://www.defensenews.com/digital-show-dailies/air-force-association/2018/09/20/how-does-the-us-air-force-plan-to-keep-bombers-affordable

  • Air Force studying the future of coordinated air, space, cyber ops

    November 20, 2018 | International, C4ISR

    Air Force studying the future of coordinated air, space, cyber ops

    By: Mark Pomerleau The Air Force is on the cusp of completing a 16-month study that could serve as a blueprint for how the service will operate in the 2030s and seamlessly coordinate between air, cyber and space. All of the military services are re-organizing to better prepare multi-domain battle, which involves seamless coordination of effects and operations across the five domains of warfare. Multi-domain command and control, known as MDC2, has been a top priority for Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Goldfein since his confirmation hearing in June 2016. The Air Force for the last 16 months has been working a highly anticipated study on the subject. In fact, the team has nearly completed the multi-domain command and control (MDC2) study and will brief the Air Force's senior leaders Nov. 27, Brig. Gen. Chance Saltzman, director of current operations and the lead on the project, said during a breakfast hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies Nov. 17. Why the change? Many military leaders have stressed that changes in organization, concepts and doctrine are due to the perceived threat environment of the future. The Air Force's pursuit of MDC2 is no different. While the Air Force has been conducting operations in multiple domains for years, the threat picture in 2030 — to include anti-access area denial, anti-satellite weapons, directed energy weapons, computer network attack — is necessitating this change. Moreover, future battlefields will include urban, multi-regional, multi-domain, multi-component, joint, multi-national and will unfold at unprecedented speeds. One of the primary conclusions of a recent study on Air Superiority 2030 was that the Air Force's structure in 2030 would struggle against this type of threat unless the service moves to multi-approach to operations, Saltzman said, Full article: https://www.c4isrnet.com/c2-comms/2017/11/17/air-force-wrapping-up-study-on-how-to-use-air-space-and-cyber-in-the-2030s/

All news