Don’t Forget, the F-16 is Old Too:

Don’t Forget, the F-16 is Old Too: As of Feb. 22, Air Combat Command has 63 F-16s with cracked bulkheads, noted ACC boss Gen. John Corley. Fortunately, even though some of these Vipers are grounded, the problem is not as severe as it is for the F-15s that have defective longerons. The difference, he explained, is that ACC’s analysis predicts that an F-16’s cracked bulkhead does not create a structural “single point failure” that will lead to a catastrophic failure. Nonetheless, the problem needs to be fixed as the F-16s go through depot, and the number of affected fighters, which changes constantly, has been trending upwards.

2/22/2008

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Fifth-Generation Apples and Oranges
“I think the notion of the F-22 as being common and similar to the F-35, we need to get rid of that. The F-35 is a very different airplane. It has similar characteristics but it’s a different airplane. ... It complements the F-22, but the F-22 is clearly an air superiority and air dominance weapon. The F-35 is a multinational, multirole, ground-to-air versatile airplane.”
—Michael Wynne, speaking to reporters on his final day in office as Air Force Secretary, June 20, 2008.

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Call for Accountability
“The GAO’s decision in the tanker protest reveals serious errors in the Air Force’s handling of this critically important competition. We now need not only a new full, fair, and open competition in compliance with the GAO recommendations, but also a thorough review of—and accountability for—the process that produced such a flawed result.”
—Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on GAO’s decision to uphold a protest by Boeing in the Air Force KC-X tanker competition, June 18, 2008.