At the beginning of spring, the US Air Force made another attempt to get the US Congress to
What is known
If the US Congress approves the request, then the US Air Force willIn fiscal year 2024 (FY), 32 Block 20 fighters will be able to retire. Upgrading to the Block 35 standard will cost the service $50 million per aircraft. The savings will be invested in the development of a fifth-generation fighter, which will appear in the middle of the next decade.
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Secret stealth attack aircraft F-117 Nighthawk,which were decommissioned many years ago are stored in hangars. After decommissioning, the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor fighters will be used for training at the Langley-Eustis base (Langley-Eustis), Virginia, and then go to Arizona at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
The military facility is known by the 309-group formaintenance and repair of aerospace equipment (AMARG). The base stores more than 4,400 aircraft and several dozen spacecraft. The total value of the property is over $35 billion.
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Despite active defense, the Davis-Monten baseoften faced with theft. In this regard, AMARG considered the possibility of building climate-controlled facilities where fifth-generation fighter jets and stealth components could be stored.
The disposal of the F-22 Raptor will be the first timewhen a large number of stealth aircraft go through this process. Although it should be noted that some of the 32 fifth-generation fighters will remain in museums.
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By the way, the disposal of stealth components isquite a sensitive issue. Previously, the SSA Air Force had been subject to litigation by contractors and personnel. The reason was that some of the specialists who were involved in the process of burning stealth materials experienced health problems.
As for the Davis-Monten base, the usually decommissioned aircraft are divided into four categories here:
- short-term conservation;
- long-term preservation;
- equipment for sale;
- parts donors.
Air Combat Command said the officeF-22 program has requested funding for long-term storage of F-22s. The amount is not specified. Almost all aircraft that fell into this category returned to service as target drones 20 years later. The only exception was the mentioned F-117. They are stored in "flight storage" and can be returned to service in wartime.