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hawg166,
640 was officially transferred over to BC on Thursday night. It can't be designated as a "C" model yet, because it's only a T-2 MOD flying for the DT&E program. In theory, if PE doesn't get a fielding recommendation or if the money dries up in order to pay for structural repairs, it gets demodified back to it's original baseline. A recent Air Force Magazine article about aging fighter aircraft leaves a lot of questions for AF Quadrennial Defense Review to answer.
ACC Commander Gen. Ronald E. Keys said, “there is always the opportunity for a train wreck” because of all the unknowns of operating a fighter force of unprecedented age.
He revealed, for example, that ACC has discovered wing cracks in some of its A-10 attack aircraft. Cracks have formed in some of the “thin-skinned” models that comprise 242 of the 356 A-10s in the inventory. (Later versions have a thicker wing skin.) According to Keys, the problem is serious enough to require him to reassess whether to go forward with a long-planned upgrade for the A-10, one that would include the addition of precision engagement systems and a possible re-engining.
“If I have to reskin the wings [as a result of the wing crack], that takes money away from precision engagement,” warned Keys.
Alternatively, the Air Force might try to solve the problem by accepting two different types of A-10s—one that can “go to high altitude, ... work at high temperatures, etc.,” and one that can’t. Keys would prefer that whatever stays in the fleet be similarly configured “all-up” aircraft.
BY: John A. Tirpak, Air Force Magazine
12/02/2005
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