U.S. Navy Takes Aim at 'Fighter Gap'

By CHRISTOPHER P. CAVAS

Each U.S. Navy strike fighter squadron will lose some of its 10 or 12
aircraft between deployments - one of several details emerging about
the service's plans to ease an upcoming shortage of strike fighters.
The so-called fighter gap is coming as older F/A-18 A through D-model
Hornet aircraft reach the end of their operational lives, not enough
new E and F
Strike Fighters are built to replace them and production of the later
F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) lags. In a draft version of
an upcoming statement to Congress obtained by Defense
News, Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of naval operations, writes that
the reduction in squadron size to "the minimum required" will take
place during "non-deployed phases." Navy Hornet squadrons already have
been reduced to 10 aircraft per squadron. Super Hornet squadrons
flying E and F models generally have 12 aircraft each. The service
will accelerate the transition of five F/A-18C squadrons to E or F
models using available Super Hornets, the draft statement said, "and
will transition two additional legacy squadrons using Super Horner
attrition reserve aircraft." Navy officials would not comment on the
impact of using spare aircraft to fill out operational squadrons. "We
will not discuss information in a draft," said Roughead spokesman
Cmdr. Charlie Brown. The fighter gap, forecast to peak around 2016,
has been a matter of debate for a couple years, and was a major focus
for requirements and budget planners over the past year. Planners,
according to Navy Undersecretary Bob Work, had "pretty much eliminated
any perceived strike fighter shortfall" in developing a new aviation
procurement plan. But a Pentagon restructuring of the JSF program
announced February 1 pushed back the service entry dates for the
plane, which is being built in separate versions for the Air Force,
Marine Corps and Navy. The move reopened the gap issue for the Navy.
"We felt very comfortable that we had a good, solid plan prior to the
JSF restructuring," Work said February 2. "And the JSF restructuring
will cause us to look at it one more time." Adm. Mullen, chairman of
the joint chiefs of staff, told Congress Feb. 3, "The Navy and the
Marine Corps have really worked hard to mitigate this strike fighter
shortfall, and I give them a lot of credit for that." The services,
Mullen said, reduced the shortfall from about 245 aircraft "down to a
very low number" prior to the restructuring. New in-service dates for
the JSF have not been announced. Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn
said the system design and development phase of the program would be
pushed back one year to 2015. Air Combat Command chief Gen. William
Fraser said February 19 his service is re-evaluating the JSF's in-
service date.