Air Force leaders again expressed growing dismay at their need to reduce flying hours—by 10 percent in the 2008 budget request—during a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley already has testified that he has asked for a review of the flying hour situation despite the fact service officials spent some 2.2 million man hours developing the budget plan. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said that the current flying hour program—about eight percent off last year’s—translates into “low risk,” however as the number edges closer to 10 percent he and Moseley feel “less comfortable.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.