The study will get on the Pentagon's nerves.
Military personnel in aviation branches will be alarmed by the findings of the General Accountability Office.
Many American airplanes are not ready to fly in missions. Maintenance problems, lack of spare parts, and general wear and tear are some of the reasons why they are grounded.
There is a stat in the report. Only 93 of the Air Force's 186 F-22s are combat effective.
There are eight airplanes that are not ready to fly.
The report looked at eight Air Force and Navy airplanes. The metric it devised was called "Mission Capable Rates."
In terms of percentage, the GAO set a readiness goal for its airplane. "Readiness" refers to the fact that an aircraft type can conduct at least one mission and possibly all of it.
There were eight airplanes that received a bad report card.
The planes received less than stellar marks. Each airplane's readiness goals were not all that high.
The Air Force's KC-135 was the only one that had an objective. The KC-135 had a readiness percentage of 711. The percentage was down from the previous year. The most efficient plane was the KC-135.
The B-1B had a readiness goal. Its level dropped from 45% to 42% over the course of the next two years.
Work needs to be done on F-22 Raptors, Navy tanker and transport airplanes.
The Navy's C-130T had the lowest readiness percentage. The goal was achieved. The Navy's KC-130T was the next worst plane in terms of readiness.
The Navy's F/A-18 E/F had a higher readiness rate than they wanted. The F-22 Raptor and the Super Hornet have low readiness scores. At any given time, the Super Hornet has 530 fighters available, but only about 267 are ready to fly in a mission- capable manner.
Write a plan in it.
According to the GAO report, neither the Air Force nor the Navy have completed plans to remedy maintenance challenges, risks, or related impacts. The Air Force and Navy can't fully address unit-level aviation maintenance challenges that affect aircraft availability for training and operations.
The full picture is finally being given to congress.
The Air Force and Navy don't have a plan in place to deal with this problem. The study was done for the US House of Representatives, but it was also done for the Senate armed services committee.
According to the GAO, the Air Force and Navy should be required to give Congress reports on the findings. The reporting should be explained in congressional testimony.
It's time to hear.
In its conclusion, the GAO left a big blow. Over the years, the investigative body has issued reports on maintenance and readiness for military planes. GAO says that the studies have not been taken seriously in Congress and the Pentagon.
These challenges need to be fixed.
The Air Force and the Navy have not completed plans to remedy maintenance challenges, risks, or related impacts identified in completed sustainment reviews, according to the report. The Air Force and Navy cannot fully address unit-level aviation maintenance challenges affecting aircraft availability for training and operations without developing a plan to remedy them.
This report needs to be taken seriously by the Air Force and Navy. The branches are aware of the problem and are trying to fix it, but a plan is not a plan if it isn't written. In order to maintain a higher level of readiness, the GAO wants the aviation units to have concrete steps in a manual form.
In order for these airplanes to accomplish their missions without being grounded, they need a chance to fly.
The 1945 defense and national security editor is the author of Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in warfare. He was an infantry officer in the US Army. You can follow him on the social networking site.
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