As if the airlift numbers weren’t sobering enough, USAF says that the typical ANG F-16 squadron today has 15 fighters. The optimum number is 24, or, in the case of experienced ANG forces, 18 per squadron. Eighteen would ensure there are sufficient fighters to perform a given mission. Unless ANG redistributes airframes among fewer units, normal aircraft attrition will take the number of F-16s per ANG squadron in 2017 down to 6.3. Again, says the Air Force, very inefficient.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.