Here’s A Handy Inventory List Of USAF Aircraft And Their Mission Capable Rates以下是美国空军飞机及其任务执行率的实用清单
The list gives a historical snapshot over a number of years detailing the reliability of each Air Force aircraft and its quantity in inventory.
Updated Mar 9, 2018 4:59 PM EST
The reliability of various USAF aircraft has always been a hot topic within defense circles, but the reality of keeping different platforms in the air has made mainstream news as of late . At the same time, the average person seems to be a bit surprised by the actual number of different types of aircraft in the Air Force’s inventory. So a simple chart showing both metrics would be very helpful, and that’s exactly what our friends over at Scramble posted on their Facebook page recently.
The list, which was sourced from the USAF’S data by the Air Force Times , includes four years of mission capable rate (aircraft can fly with all combat systems functional) data as well as the historical change for each platform, for better or worse. The inventory as of 2017 for each aircraft is also posted in its own column.
Some may be surprised that even with all the USAF’s complaining about how old and unreliable the airframes are, the E-8C JSTARS was still able to pull off a mission capable rate of 64 percent in 2017, and a respectable 76 percent in 2016.
Aircrew cleans the windscreen on a well-worn E-8C., USAF
Meanwhile the relatively small fleet of F-22s hit an abysmal 49 percent—basically you need two aircraft available for one sortie—in 2017, down from a paltry 60 percent the year earlier. This is the cost of flying a low-observable, “thoroughbred” fighter. Considering only about 125 are combat coded for front line service at any given, this figure is even more troubling.
Over a decade after taking its first flight, the F-35A continues to struggle as well with a 55 percent mission capable rate. This has been a major story as of late , and even though the USAF and Lockheed Martin are working to increase the aircraft’s availability, still only around half are available at any given time. The test fleet full of early examples also draws down this number, but the cost of upgrading those jets to current standard is going to be very high, and still they are unlikely to be on an equal level with their newer counterparts.
The C-5M Galaxy —a re-engined and updated refit of earlier C-5 models —continues to struggle. This is especially troubling considering the massive investment in these aircraft to make them more reliable and the drawdown of the fleet. Its mission capable rate has steadily dropped since 2015 to a troublesome 60 percent in 2017. Meanwhile the C-17 continues to be a workhorse with an 84 percent mission capable rate, which is among the highest in the entire fleet.
Although the Air Force is working to replace at least the missile silo tender and security helicopter part of its aging UH-1N Twin Huey force, the aircraft still have an outstanding mission capable rate of 84 percent.
The Air Force Training Command’s T-1 trainer fleet, which isn’t disappearing anything soon , has an abysmal 56 percent mission capable rate. That is breathtakingly low considering it is essentially a modified version of the Hawker/Beechcraft 400A business jet, which has a good reputation for reliability.
What’s your take on this information? Let us know in the comments section below.
Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com
Comments couldn’t be loaded. Please refresh the page.
更新于美国东部时间2018年3月9日下午4:59
美国空军各种飞机的可靠性一直是国防界的热门话题，但最近，如何保证不同机型都能正常飞行也成为了主流媒体的关注焦点。与此同时，普通民众似乎对空军现役飞机的种类之多感到惊讶。因此，一张能够同时展示这些指标的简明图表将非常有帮助，而这正是我们的朋友Scramble最近在其Facebook页面上发布的图表。
该列表由《空军时报》根据美国空军的数据编制而成，包含了四年来的任务能力率（飞机所有作战系统均可正常运作）数据，以及每种平台的历史变化，无论好坏。每种飞机截至2017年的库存数据也单独列在一栏中。
有些人可能会感到惊讶，尽管美国空军一直在抱怨 E-8C JSTARS 飞机的机身老旧且不可靠，但该机在 2017 年的任务执行率仍然达到了 64%，在 2016 年也达到了令人尊敬的 76%。
机组人员正在清洁一架老旧E-8C预警机的挡风玻璃。（美国空军）
与此同时，规模相对较小的F-22机队在2017年的可用率仅为惨淡的49%——也就是说，每次出击需要两架飞机才能执行任务——比前一年的60%还要低。这就是驾驶这种低可探测性“纯种”战斗机的代价。考虑到任何时候只有大约125架F-22被编入一线作战序列，这个数字就更加令人担忧了。
F-35A战斗机首飞十余年后，其任务可用率依然仅为55%，问题持续存在。近来，这已成为媒体关注的焦点。尽管美国空军和洛克希德·马丁公司正努力提高该型战机的可用性，但任何时候都只有大约一半的战机能够投入使用。早期测试机队的大量投入也拉低了可用率，但将这些战机升级到当前标准的成本非常高昂，而且即便升级，它们也难以达到新型战机的水平。
C-5M“银河”运输机——由早期C-5机型改装升级而来——持续面临困境。考虑到为提升其可靠性而投入的巨额资金以及机队规模的缩减，这种情况尤其令人担忧。自2015年以来，其任务可用率持续下降，2017年更是跌至令人担忧的60%。与此同时，C-17运输机依然是主力机型，任务可用率高达84%，位居整个机队前列。
尽管空军正在努力更换其老旧的 UH-1N 双休伊直升机部队中至少用于导弹发射井运输和安全直升机的部分，但这些飞机的任务执行率仍然高达 84%。
空军训练司令部的T-1教练机队虽然短期内不会退役，但其任务可用率却低得惊人，仅为56%。考虑到它本质上是霍克/比奇400A公务机的改进型，而后者以可靠性著称，这个数字低得令人瞠目结舌。
你对这条信息有什么看法？请在下方评论区留言。
联系作者：Tyler@thedrive.com
评论加载失败，请刷新页面。