Air Force trades quantity for quality.

• Author: Parsons, Dan

The Air Force will cut airmen and ditch some underperforming and unwanted aircraft, focusing instead on purchasing fewer but more capable new models in order to bridge a years-long investment gap, officials said.

At the top of the list are aging fighters, bombers and air-refueling tankers. The service is bent on replacing or beginning to buy upgrades for all three within a decade, even if it means foregoing other programs, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz.

"The bottom line is, these are important capabilities for the nation and ones we will make sacrifices elsewhere to sustain" Schwartz said at a Pentagon news conference. "The challenge is sequencing these programs in a way that meets budget targets."

The Air Force's fleets are already smaller and older than when the military made a similar reduction in budget and force after the Cold War. The effort is all the more important after 10 years of conflict that emphasized equipping ground forces.

Using that logic, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula said these modernization programs are long overdue.

"We have a geriatric Air Force" he told National Defense. "We're flying 50-plus year old bombers, we're flying 50-plus year old tankers and our fighters are falling out of the sky because we're putting more hours and years on them than they were designed for.

"We saw over the last decade a dramatic increase in funding for the Army and Marine Corps to the detriment of the Air Force" he said. "Now it's time to shift resources to the things that have been neglected. These are important capabilities needed for national security. It becomes an entire defense enterprise issue. Cuts should come from across service lines, not just within the Air Force."

The Obama administration's strategic guidance places a premium on policing Pacific waters, especially in the face of a rising China. That in turn places a premium on technologies that can reach across thousands of miles of ocean. Hence Air Force leaders' dedication to not just a new long-range strike bomber, but the KC-46 refueling tanker. Add to the list service-life extension for the F-16 fleet, and the procurement of new satellites and space-launch vehicles.

Fleets have traditionally been modernized one at a time over a decade apiece. In the 1970s, funding went to updating the fighter fleet. In the 1980s, bombers were the priority, followed by airlift and tanker aircraft during the 1990s, he said.

The timelines for...