U.S. grounds F-15's

[stomperrob]

F-15 Grounding Strains U.S. Air Defenses
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:00:28 PM
By SCOTT LINDLAW

The grounding of hundreds of F-15s because of dangerous structural defects is straining the nation's air defense network, forcing some states to rely on their neighbors' fighter jets for protection, and Alaska to depend on the Canadian military.

The F-15 is the sole fighter at many of the 16 or so "alert" sites around the country, where planes and pilots stand ready to take off at a moment's notice to intercept hijacked airliners, Cessnas that wander into protected airspace, and other threats.

The Air Force grounded about 450 F-15s after one of the fighters began to break apart in the air and crashed Nov. 2 in Missouri. An Air Other Top Headlines Photos

Force investigation found "possible fleet-wide airworthiness problems" because of defects in the metal rails that hold the fuselage together. It is not clear when the F-15s will be allowed to fly again.

Compounding the problem created by the grounding, another fighter jet used for homeland defense, the F-16, is in high demand for Iraq operations. And the next-generation fighter, the F-22 Raptor, is only slowly replacing the aging F-15.

Military officials say they moved quickly to patch any holes in the homeland air-defense system, and they report an increase in air defense sorties in the past month, using replacement F-16s. But they acknowledge difficulties.

"When you're filling in, obviously it's going to cause some strain," said Mike Strickler, a spokesman with North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which is operated by the U.S. and Canada. "You're spreading resources a little thinner than we would like."

But air defenses have not been compromised, Strickler said. "We can be anywhere at any time," he said.

With the F-15s in Massachusetts out of commission, the Vermont Air National Guard is covering the whole Northeast. The Minnesota Air National Guard is manning sites in Hawaii. In Louisiana, the Illinois Air National Guard has been filling in.

And with Oregon's fighters grounded, the California Air National Guard is standing watch for the entire West Coast, an area of more than 300,000 square miles that is home to more than 46 million people in California, Oregon, Washington, and slices of Arizona and Nevada.

The California Air National Guard said this is first time in history that a single state's fighter wing is providing coverage for an entire coast.

The California Guard is keeping three alert sites -- in Riverside and Fresno, Calif., and Portland, Ore. -- equipped and staffed with pilots and mechanics.

"As a unit we're kind of stressed, but everyone's accepting this as a challenge and all the men and women of the unit are acting as professionally as you could ever hope for," said Col. Gary Taylor, operations group commander for the Fresno-based 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard.

The unit has had to borrow F-16s from bases in Indiana and Arizona and trim back training for certain overseas operations.

A relatively small number of F-15s -- the model known as the F-15E Strike Eagle -- were not found to have the structural problem, and are unaffected by the grounding.

For three weeks in November, Canadian Other Top Headlines Photos

CF-18s filled in for the F-15s over Alaska. Several times, the Canadian fighters scrambled to "do an identification" of Russian bombers flying exercises outside U.S. airspace near Alaska, said Maj. Mike Lagace, a Canadian military spokesman for NORAD.

"We flew up, met with the long-range patrol, basically let them know, `Hi, folks, we're here too,'" Lagace said. Russian warplanes have been flying exercises near Alaska and Canada with increasing frequency in recent months.

Now, a brand-new squadron of F-22s based in Alaska is standing in for the state's grounded F-15s, said Tech. Sgt. Mikal R. Canfield, a spokesman at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

As for the F-15 pilots in Portland who have been largely idled by the no-fly order, they have told the visiting California airmen they are eager to get back in the cockpit.

"They're thankful for our help," said Col. Ryan A. Orian, the 144th Fighter Wing's vice commander. "But they'd love for us to leave."

[deerayfan072]

The F-22 is the future and should be done by now, but because of budget cuts on it they are not ready yet.

[RiffRaff]

F-15 Grounding Strains U.S. Air Defenses
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:00:28 PM
By SCOTT LINDLAW

The grounding of hundreds of F-15s because of dangerous structural defects is straining the nation's air defense network, forcing some states to rely on their neighbors' fighter jets for protection, and Alaska to depend on the Canadian military.

Pack it in Alaska, you're Toast.

[scottaa1]

The F-22 is the future and should be done by now, but because of budget cuts on it they are not ready yet.

Yeah, the slow trickle of 22's doesn't help. First the venerable F-14 Tomcat gets retired beginning of 2007, now the Eagle is temporarily grounded. The -16 is a fairly cheap aircraft/avaionics package and not all of them are all-weather mission capable (night is also considered a 'weather' condition apparently).

Let's get those -22's and Joint Strike Fighters deployed and cover our assests.

[deerayfan072]

The F-22 is the future and should be done by now, but because of budget cuts on it they are not ready yet.

Yeah, the slow trickle of 22's doesn't help. First the venerable F-14 Tomcat gets retired beginning of 2007, now the Eagle is temporarily grounded. The -16 is a fairly cheap aircraft/avaionics package and not all of them are all-weather mission capable (night is also considered a 'weather' condition apparently).

Let's get those -22's and Joint Strike Fighters deployed and cover our assests.

My Father-In-Law is a Colonel in the AF and is in the maintenance field. He goes to bases and gets them set up to have the F-22.

[scottaa1]

My Father-In-Law is a Colonel in the AF and is in the maintenance field. He goes to bases and gets them set up to have the F-22.

We need them now more than ever.

The F-117 is also being/was retired, not sure on the dates for that. The new stealthier designed aircraft w/ supercruise and low RCS are the future, until conventional radar gets an overhaul.

[Madison]

F-15 Grounding Strains U.S. Air Defenses
Wednesday, December 26, 2007 4:00:28 PM
By SCOTT LINDLAW

The grounding of hundreds of F-15s because of dangerous structural defects is straining the nation's air defense network, forcing some states to rely on their neighbors' fighter jets for protection, and Alaska to depend on the Canadian military.

Pack it in Alaska, you're Toast.

Was my first thought too.

[deerayfan072]

For Those interested, here is the response my Father-in-Law gave me:

My team and I have definitely been involved in this issue from a
maintenance policy standpoint. I've seen the tapes from mishap as well
as recreations done with computers. Absolutely unbelievable that this
acft broke in two during flight and the pilot successfully ejected.
Some folks have accused the Chief of Staff of the Air Force of grounding
the fleet to make a case for more F-22s. All one has to do is look at
this video and it's clear he wasn't making some political statement
other then being concerned about the safety of F-15 pilots. In fact, I
believe his son is an F-15 pilot as was Gen Moseley

The mishap investigation is winding down and the AF's senior leadership
will shortly be able to make an informed decision re putting these acft
back in the air

[scottaa1]

I wonder if the Su-27 has the same problem...

[knapplc]

The only problem the 27 has is figuring out where to let its pieces fall after the F-22 gets radar lock.