Turns Out 40% Of F-15 Fighters Had Problems
F-15A pictured.
WASHINGTON— Inspectors have found structural flaws in about 40 percent of the US Air Force’s F-15A-D fighter aircraft, the service said Wednesday, raising questions about their long-term viability.
The air force grounded all 665 of its F-15 fighters in November after one broke up in the air during a simulated dogfight over Missouri.
After more than two months of inspections, the air force said 295 F-15 fighters of the “A” through “D” models have been cleared to fly again as of Wednesday.
But the inspections found nine aircraft with cracks in the thin strips of metal to which the aircraft’s skin is attached, called longerons, the defect that is reported to have caused the F-15 to break up in flight November 2.
“Additionally, approximately 40 percent of inspected aircraft have at least one longeron that does not meet blueprint specifications,” the air force said in a statement.
About 90 percent of the fleet has now been inspected so the air force is faced with a decision about whether to fix or retire the more than 100 aircraft with the structural flaws.
Some older F-15 already had been scheduled for retirement beginning in 2009, and the cost of replacing a defective longeron is about 200,000 dollars, said Major Thomas Crosson, spokesman for the air force’s Air Combat Command in Langley, Virginia.
“I could kind of sum it up in one phrase and that is ‘return on investment,’” he said.
“We’re going to evaluate what is going to be needed to fix those jets and how those jets that need fixing fit into the retirement plan. Are we going to spend 200, 300,000 dollars to fix a jet that we are going to use only another year or two?”
Long the top US fighter jet, the F-15s now have an average age of about 25 years.
F-15Es, the most advanced model in the line, are used for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan but the older “A” through “D” models are mainly used to defend US air space.
They are gradually being replaced by the F-22, a faster, stealthy and more expensive aircraft, but the air force says it needs more than the 183 F-22s that it has been authorized to buy.
Air force leaders have pushed for authority to buy 381 F-22s, arguing in part that the existing fighter fleet is increasingly at risk.
The Los Angeles Times quoted US Defense Secretary Robert Gates as saying the air force’s problems are genuine.
“The air force’s top priority has to be the replacement of the tanker fleet, but I think the notion that the air force is somehow pumping up the F-15 problem, I just don’t believe that for a second. I think it’s a real concern,” Gates said.
(AFP)
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“The air force’s top priority has to be the replacement of the tanker fleet, but I think the notion that the air force is somehow pumping up the F-15 problem”
?…If they fix them they will get stuck keeping them longer than 2 years..
January 10th, 2008 at 5:31 pmJim you got that right.
January 10th, 2008 at 5:49 pmSo the biggest spenders in the military want to trash the remaining fleet of aircraft because fixing them would cost less than the cost of “2″ new f-22’s.
The top news today is we could be heading into recession, so I say “fix the old car” I can’t afford a new one.
The AF is a spendthrift. We’re in a war. Time to concentrate on bombs and bullets. Fix the F-15. I’d like to see the expense sheets and do my own audit…then fire any lying ass bureauocrat that I find associated with this story.
January 10th, 2008 at 6:08 pmThe MSM is pumping the AF story like crazy, all to push the purchase of new fighters. Those new jets are exponentially more expensive than anything we’ve ever seen.
Dan, there are two ways they can fix planes, either our mechanics do it or they send them back to the mfg plant and they bill for it.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:47 amWhat they are really afraid of is during a retro fit a better fix is come up with that will make the plane better even than new. There goes the new toy that they want so bad. These are not cars that we need to buy new every few years and the more parts that are made the cheaper the plane becomes to repair and upgrades are made as well.
Long live the A-10
The fighter mafia just want their F-22s. Can’t say I blame them, it really does have the potential to be the most dominant manned fighter ever built.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:26 ami think the US will need both F22 and F15s, and use them together, F22 being the squadron leader and directing the F15s fire to the target, fixing and upgrading the “eagles” is much better idea, cause in a war its good to have a technological superiority, but lets not forget the numbers game, i wouldn’t hurt to have an extra aricraft to conduct about 400-500 more sorties, and given the F15s load thats about 4 completly destroyed (air/ground) targets per sortie
May 9th, 2008 at 6:17 am