USAF EYES MASSIVE EXPANSION
LEADERS SPELL OUT NEED FOR 74 MORE SQUADRONS
S
ECRETARY OF THE
US Air Force Heather
Wilson used her keynote
speech at the Air Force
Association’s annual
Air, Space and Cyber
Conference in September to outline
ambitions plans for dramatic
expansion for the US Air Force. Wilson
said that the USAF had moved from
an era of tackling insurgency in the
Middle East to one of ‘great power
competition’. She said the USAF
needs to concentrate on readinessand acquisition to prepare for present
and future operations.
‘The [National] Defense Strategy tells
us that we need to be able to defend
the homeland, provide a credible
nuclear deterrent and win against
a major power while countering a
rogue nation, all while managing
violent extremists with a lower level
of e ort,’ Wilson said. ‘Our operational
squadrons are the combat power of
the air force; they are the clenched
st of American resolve. We have 312
operational squadrons today. The ‘AirForce We Need’ has 386 operational
squadrons by 2030.’
The USAF is working hard to address
pilot and maintainer shortages.
Wilson said a few years ago the USAF
was 4,000 maintainers adrift from
its requirements. Wilson said that by
the end of 2018, that de cit will be
eliminated. ‘More than 75 per cent of
our force is combat-ready and we’re
moving the whole force to higher
levels of readiness with actions that
will play out over the next several
years.’ Wilson did not provide details ofhow the USAF is faring with regard to
its chronic pilot shortage.
The ‘Air Force We Need’ calls for the
addition of 74 squadrons in terms of
overall USAF strength by 2030 — it’s
the USAF leadership’s reaction to
the demands set out in the National
Defense Strategy, unveiled earlier
this year. The increase, Wilson says, is
necessary to counter growing threats
from China and Russia and is what
the USAF says it requires in order to
cover its range of missions.
Wilson said the National Defense
Strategy illustrates how the US has
returned to ‘an era of great power
competition’, and re ected on the
1980s era of air force structure to
counter threats from Russia.
Chief of Sta Gen David Goldfein
echoed Wilson’s comments in his
address on September 18, calling
for a return to true expeditionary
operations rather than servicing well-
established, pre-existing deployment
bases. ‘It’s time to return to our
expeditionary roots,’ he stated.
Goldfein said it was time for the
USAF to restructure for the future,
adding, ‘The ght is coming, and we
have from this moment to get ready.’
Set against a backdrop of manning
issues and ageing aircraft eets,
it’s hard to see how the USAF will
be able to grow so quickly without
a huge increase in budget. It has
already slowed F-35A deliveries and
those coming to its ghter wings
are replacing in-service aircraft.The USAF says it needs a further
seven fi ghter squadrons to meet
requirements. New F-15s might present
a solution, but ageing fl eets will also
need to be similarly addressed. USAF/
SrA John Linzmeier[NEWS] HEADLINES
06 November 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net