And with the cut back of more military aircraft, this gets even better for TADF/TACAIR Gotta love the military training business. Go $TADF
Trading Size for Quality: The Air Force aims to retire 102 A-10 ground-attack aircraft—about one third of its A-10 fleet—and more than 280 aircraft overall as part of the proposed force adjustments in its forthcoming Fiscal 2013-17 budget program, according to the service leadership's new white paper, issued Wednesday. "The Air Force has made the hard choices to closely align with the [Obama Administration's] new strategic guidance in our Fiscal 2013 budget submission by trading size for quality," wrote Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz in Air Force Priorities for a New Strategy with Constrained Budgets. Among the changes, some of which Pentagon officials touched upon last week, the Air Force will:
Eliminate 123 fighters (102 A-10s and 21 older F-16s), 133 mobility aircraft (27 C-5As, 21 C-27s, 65 C-130s, and 20 KC-135s), and 30 intelligence platforms (18 Global Hawk Block 30s, 11 RC-26s, and one E-8).
Trim the Total Force by 9,900 airmen, building upon the reductions of 48,000 personnel since 2004.
Terminate or restructure programs like the B-2 extremely high-frequency radio improvements and the family of advanced beyond line of sight terminals.
Replace "expensive programs" like the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program "with more affordable alternatives that still accomplish the mission."
Discontinue or defer programs including the common vertical lift support platform, light mobility aircraft, and light attack and armed reconnaissance airplane.
