Air Force chief supports flying F-117s, U-2s longer, if necessary

Posted on: Apr. 14th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

Air Force chief supports flying F-117s, U-2s longer, if necessary

The Air Force will continue to fly the Lockheed Martin [LMT] U-2 Dragon Lady surveillance aircraft and F-117A Nighthawk stealth attack platform until their replacements, the Northrop Grumman [NOC] RQ-4 Global Hawk and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, have proven their merit, the Air Force chief of staff said on Tuesday.

"Until the Global Hawk is ready, then taking the U-2 off line doesn't make any sense, because the combatant commander still has a requirement for long-look radar capability as well as [signals intelligence] and [electronic intelligence]," said Gen. Michael Moseley.

Moseley, who has led the Air Force since last September, made the comments to reporters on April 11 during a breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C, sponsored by the Defense Writers Group.

The same applies for the F-117, he said, which like the U-2 would be phased out starting next year under the FY '07 to FY '11 budget plan that the Air Force presented to Congress in February. Since then, the Air Force has been rethinking the plans based on concerns raised by the combatant commanders (Defense Daily, April 11).

"I don't want to let go of the 117 until we have the capability demonstrated and operational with the 22," he said, noting the service's comfort level with operating the Nighthawk today.

Accordingly, he said the Air Force is examining what the costs would be of retaining those platforms for longer. "The Air Force may have to buy back some of that, and I am not opposed to that," he said.

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