Wyatt’s F-35 Vision

Right now the Air Force’s roadmap for fighter recapitalization shows only one Air National Guard unit getting the F-35 stealth fighter before 2021, Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, Air National Guard director, said Monday at AFA’s 2009 Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C. Assuming the F-35 production line is in full swing by 2015 and churning out about 80 USAF F-35As annually, a better approach is to assign 30 percent of them—roughly 24 aircraft—to the Air Guard each year, thus enabling the beddown of a new Guard F-35 squadron each annum, Wyatt said. That way, by the time, the Air Force has fielded about 400 F-35s, a sizable chunk with be resident within the Air Guard, with the end result “a more robust Air Force” that is better able to support the joint force and sustain high-tempo operations. Continue