USAF announces plans to retire nearly 300 aircraft over 5 years.

[Perriwen]

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123288620

Brace yourself, this is a doozy:

FY 13 Actions:

- Divests all C‐27J aircraft, eliminating aircraft based at or planned for:

• Warfield AGS (Martin State), MD (4)
• Kellogg AGS (Battle Creek), MI (4)
• Fargo AGS (Hector), ND (4)
• Mansfield Lahm AGS, OH (4)
• Great Falls, MT (4)
• Bradley, CT (4)
• Key Field AGS (Meridian), MS (6)

- Removes A‐10s from:

• Barksdale AFB, LA (retires 21 and transfers three)
• Selfridge ANGB, MI (21)
• Ft Smith, AR (20)
• Ft Wayne, IN (20)
• an Active Component overseas location (20)

- Removes F‐16s from Des Moines, IA (21)

- Transfers Active Component F‐16 Aggressors from Eielson AFB, AK (19) to Joint Base (JB) Elmendorf‐Richardson, AK (19)

- Aircraft retirements and transfers result in net reductions of C‐130Hs at:

• JB Elmendorf‐Richardson, AK (4 H2) (eliminating an Active association)
• Niagara, NY (3 H2) (eliminating a Reserve association)
• Rosecrans AGS (St Joseph), MO (10 H2.5)
• Youngstown‐Warren, OH (6 H2)
• Louisville, KY (1 H2.5)
• Charleston, WV (1 H3)
• Cheyenne, WY (1 H2.5)
• Stratton AGS (Schenectady), NY (4 H2)
• Dobbins ARB, GA (7 H2)
• Pittsburgh, PA (7 H2)

The Pittsburgh actions result in the closure of the associated Air Reserve Station at Pittsburgh, PA (closure does not exceed Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) threshold in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 2687).

- Retires KC‐135s from:

• Rickenbacker, OH (6)
• Pittsburgh ANGB, PA (4)
• Tinker AFB, OK (4)
• Altus AFB, OK (three Active Component)
• Sky Harbor (Phoenix), AZ (1) [Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI) aircraft]
• Sioux City AGS, IA (1) [Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI) aircraft]
• March ARB, CA (1) [Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI) aircraft]

- Reduces KC‐135s at:

• McGhee‐Tyson, TN (2)
• Gen Mitchell, WI (2)

- Begins retirement of the C‐5A fleet at JB San Antonio (Lackland AFB), TX (5)

- Eliminates an E‐8C damaged beyond economical repair from Robins ARB, GA (1)

- Retires Active Component Block 30 RQ‐4s from Beale AFB, CA (18).

Proposed FY 14 Actions: Removes C‐130Hs from Maxwell AFB, AL (7 H2), Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Ft Worth (Carswell), TX (8 H2) and Minneapolis‐St Paul (8 H3), and removes C‐130Js from Keesler AFB, MS (10). Continues to retire C‐5As at JB San Antonio (Lackland AFB), TX (3) and Shepherd Field AGS (Martinsburg), WV (5). Converts Active Component F‐15Cs at Nellis AFB, NV (5) from Primary Aircraft Inventory (PAI) to BAI status. Transfers 42 Active Component MC‐12s from Beale AFB to the Air National Guard.

Proposed FY 15 Actions: Retires remaining Air National Guard C‐5As based at Shepherd Field (Martinsburg), WV (6), and additional Air Force Reserve C‐5As at JB San Antonio (Lackland AFB) (2). Eliminates funding for all 11 RC‐26 aircraft, retiring aircraft based at Ellington Field (Houston), TX (1), Kirtland AFB, NM (1), Tucson, AZ (1), Fresno, CA (1), Fairchild AFB, WA (1), Key Field (Meridian), MS (1), Dannelly Field, AL (1), Truax AGS (Madison), WI (1), Hancock Field AGS (Syracuse), NY (1), Charleston, WV (1), and Jacksonville, FL (1).

Proposed FY 16 Action: Completes retirement of the Air Force Reserve C‐5A fleet by divesting the remaining aircraft at JB San Antonio (Lackland AFB), TX (6). Removes C‐130H from Savannah, GA (8 H2) and Little Rock, AR (eight Active Component H3). Removes C5Ms from Westover, MA (8).

Proposed FY 17 Actions: Removes C‐130Hs from Niagara, NY (8 H2), Little Rock, AR (three Reserve Component H2), Charlotte, NC (2 H3), and Little Rock AR (six Active Component H3)

[PhilDernerJr]

I assume the C-17 is the sole replacement for the C-5, correct? Does its smaller size have any other negative repercussions as a replacement?

[cancidas]

i remember when the air force was up in arms about the original plan for the army to operate 50% of the C-27Js... now they're divesting deliveries. i like how that works.

[Perriwen]

I assume the C-17 is the sole replacement for the C-5, correct? Does its smaller size have any other negative repercussions as a replacement?

I think they're going to be keeping a handful of C-5s around, especially since they just spent so much money upgrading them to the M models. I assume the logic is they don't think they'll need so much heavy lifting...or they think it's cheaper to charter AN-124s.

[Kris V]

Don't see who is going to take over Elmendorfs Aggressors, not happy about them going south...sad for the C-27J is leaving too...
yay F-35s!

[moose135]

The C-5 isn't going away. They are looking to retire the original A-models, and perhaps upgrade the remaining B-models to the latest M-model configuration. The aircraft already upgraded to M-model configuration will remain in the fleet.

[Perriwen]

The C-5 isn't going away. They are looking to retire the original A-models, and perhaps upgrade the remaining B-models to the latest M-model configuration. The aircraft already upgraded to M-model configuration will remain in the fleet.

Not quite....for example:

Proposed FY 16 Action: Completes retirement of the Air Force Reserve C‐5A fleet by divesting the remaining aircraft at JB San Antonio (Lackland AFB), TX (6). Removes C‐130H from Savannah, GA (8 H2) and Little Rock, AR (eight Active Component H3). Removes C5Ms from Westover, MA (8).

[moose135]

That doesn't mean they are retiring those aircraft, just that they will be reassigned.

[Perriwen]

That doesn't mean they are retiring those aircraft, just that they will be reassigned.

No, they are retiring them in order to save money as mentioned in the SECDEF's announcement last week. The original announcement from last week was clear, where is says 'remove', it means going to the boneyard unless specifically mentioned otherwise, like the 2 A-10 airframes and the Aggressor unit.

The announcement said over two dozen C-5s were being scrapped. The numbers of all those, As, Bs, and Ms equal roughly that number.

[moose135]

Removes C5Ms from Westover, MA (8).

Not to be picky, but from http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...lanned_cu.html

Westover’s C-5 fleet is scheduled for an upgrade and conversion to the C-5M model, an estimated $90 million project, by 2016, said Lt. Col. James G. Bishop, wing public affairs officer. Eight of the upgraded aircraft would be transferred to an active-duty Air Force unit at the 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Bishop said.

And from http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2012/02/02/awx_02_02_2012_p0-420642.xml&headline=U.S. Air Force Reveals Budget Cut Details

Air mobility will take a 133-aircraft divestment. The Air Force will retain 222 C-17s, 52 C-5Ms and 300-plus C-130s. Divestments will include 27 C-5As, 65 older C-130s and all 38 existing and planned C-27s.