Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s written testimony for Tuesday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing contained the declaration, “The Air Force fleet is aging.” He added: “An aging fleet means increased maintenance costs and flight restrictions. It is important that we recapitalize the fleet to retain America’s air dominance and strategic flexibility.” Given the Secretary’s history of rebuffing most Air Force efforts to reinvigorate its old aircraft fleet, it’s hard to believe Rumsfeld is softening, but it’s possible. His latest budget doesn’t offer much in the way of concrete steps, however.
The Air Force is seeking funding to let its pilots fly a little more than 1.1 million hours in fiscal 2027, which would be the most in about four years. But even if Airmen actually do fly all 1.1 million hours, it would still be short of the 1.3 million…