Murphy's Law: March 5, 2002

Archives

The Afghan War has put a major strain on US military aviation. Accident rates are up (double for the Air Force, a 50 percent increase for the Navy and Marines) and aircraft are being worn out. The Air Force is using its C-17s so steadily that routine maintenance is being shorted and more serious work ignored. Navy carrier planes are being used at rates never intended for a single cruise. More than 300 individual aircraft will have to undergo service life extension programs earlier than they had been scheduled or budgeted. The stockpile of precision-guided weapons, already too small due to years of under-funding and the Kosovo War, has been depleted. (These were being used faster than they were being built during the first weeks of the war, a situation now reversed by lower use and higher production.) Specialist aircraft (EA-6B, EP-3E) are being worn out quickly as there are few of them but they are in constant demand.--Stephen V Cole

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close