Cuts in all three US fighter programmes are proposed in President Bush's fiscal year 2004 defence budget request. The cuts are deepest in planned US Navy and Marine Corps procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), as a result of integration of their tactical aircraft fleets.
Under the integration, four USN and two USMC active and reserve strike fighter squadrons will be decommissioned, reducing the number of F-35s required from 1,089 to 680. The split between short take-off vertical landing and carrier-capable JSFs will not be decided until operational testing has demonstrated their capabilities, says the navy.
Integration will also reduce the number of Boeing F/A-18E/Fs procured by the USN from 548 to 460. The navy also plans to purchase 78 EA-18G electronic-attack versions. This will stabilise Super Hornet production at 42 aircraft a year from FY2004 to FY2008, down from 46 in FY2003.
Cuts in F/A-18E/F and JSF procurement make up the bulk of the $19 billion in savings expected between FY2007 and FY2012 as a result of USN/USMC tactical aircraft integration. Retirement of US Navy Grumman F-14s by mid-2007, and reduction of deployed squadron strength from 12 aircraft to 10, will also save money.
Under the integration plan, which starts next year, one USMC F/A-18 squadron will be assigned to each of the 10 navy carrier air wings and one USN F/A-18 squadron to each of the three marine expeditionary air wings, which operate from land.
The budget also reduces planned USAF procurement of the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F/A-22 Raptor from 339 aircraft to 276, as a result of cost overruns in development. The "buy-to-budget" strategy stays, and the USAF is hopeful of buying more aircraft within the $43 billion production cap if costs can be reduced. The USAF says $371 million will be transferred from the F/A-22 production budget in FY2004 to fund part of the estimated $876 million development cost overrun. As a result, the USAF now plans to buy 22 F/A-22s in FY2004 and 24 in FY2005, with production rising to a maximum of 36 a year, down from the 56 originally planned.
Source: Flight International
