It sure sounded like a good idea: Take a few B-52s, strap on outboard radar-jamming pods, and scramble enemy air and electronic defense networks at will. It seems now that Air Force officials are reconsidering the whole thing in favor of a more-agile platform. That’s the word from the Lexington Institute’s well-informed Loren Thompson, as quoted in a Reuters dispatch. Of course, given the Pentagon’s budget slashing mood, cutting the electric B-52 dollars might have been a fairly obvious move to make. However, the Air Force will need to make a move soon to have a replacement by the time the Navy retires its EA-6B Prowlers.
Fixing the Air Force’s chronic combat pilot shortage will require more aircraft in the fleet, more flying hours to squadron operations, and retaining more pilots within Reserve components, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.