Because the Air Force has opted to slow the A-10 attack jet’s phased retirement, it will buy contractor logistics support for a number of other legacy platforms in order to shift some seasoned maintainers to the F-35 program. That could work against the service in the long run, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said at an AFA-sponsored Air Force breakfast Friday. “It’s definitely more money,” James said, unable to immediately peg the difference in cost between organic and CLS. She said it will be a “temporary approach” as “we very much want to get back to having airmen do this important maintenance,” but “it’s a risk.” As CLS companies “gear up to provide this maintenance support for us … they could, in effect, directly or indirectly, pull our own airmen into the private sector and that could exacerbate our issue. I hope not, but we’ll see.” James said the No 1. thing she worries about in regard to achieving full operational capability with the F-35—targeted for around 2030—“is the issue of the experienced maintainers.” Achieving FOC on time is “going to require even more maintainers,” for which USAF doesn’t yet have a source, she added.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.