I was going over the 2010 QDR and noticed some interesting things regarding force structure of the USAF. according to the QDR- it states that the USAF needs only 10-11 strike wings and 4-6 air superiority wings. I was wondering if someone can tell me also what the current number of strike wings and air superiority wings are. I did a little calculation and that only comes to about 1100 fighters; our current inventory is 2200 so does that mean that the fighter force is going to be slashed in half? This seems like alot, especially since USAF set a minimum requirement for 2200 by 2025 and that we are supposed to acquire about 1800 JSF for the USAF. I was wondering if one of you guys could shed some light on this for me
QDR airforce structure
- Thread starter barnyard2
- Start date
F-15 Eagle
New Member
No they are not cutting the force in half. Plans still include 1800 F-35s and 187 F-22s along with 300 or so RQ-1/MQ-9 Predator/Reaper drones. Plus they are looking at a new bomber as well.
6 air superiority wings will include 2 wings of F-22s(144 out of the 187 will be combat coded) and 4 wings of F-35s to replace the F-15 C/Ds.
11 Strike wings will include the rest of the F-35s and the Predator and Reaper drones to replace the A-10s F-16s and F-15Es.
They still plan on having no less than 2200 combat fighter-strike aircraft for 2025.
Airpower Force Structure in the Future . . .
This chart might give some insight into the Air Force 20-yr plan for the
combat aircraft inventory. Things could always change dramatically as
history plays out. Just think how the Air Force Joint Vision 2020 plan from
a decade ago has changed due to GWOT/OIF and the unconventional
threat in general we face now. Who is to say really what our force structure
needs will be in 2030? We could be facing a near-peer competitor in an
arms race, we could be facing a ferocious, multi-faceted terrorist threat which
is deeply embedded into all our interests, we could find ourselfs living on
an eco-war ravaged, resource drained and economically collapsed planet with
a hugh population of poor and angry people armed with modern weaponary,
we could face a world with dozens of nuclear armed states and stateless foes
who are trigger happy and theatening our nation and allies or we could find ourselfs
still at the top, with no real near-peers, still fighting unconventional threats and
facing peacekeeping duties where good diplomacy, policing and people on the
ground on foot patrol means more to success than fighter jets dropping bombs.
Hopefully, our airpower planners realize that our advantage in aerospace technology
is a huge deterent to any potential foe and that we must maintain a powerful, large
and cutting edge force of fighters, bombers and support aircraft; both manned and
un-manned.
This chart might give some insight into the Air Force 20-yr plan for the
combat aircraft inventory. Things could always change dramatically as
history plays out. Just think how the Air Force Joint Vision 2020 plan from
a decade ago has changed due to GWOT/OIF and the unconventional
threat in general we face now. Who is to say really what our force structure
needs will be in 2030? We could be facing a near-peer competitor in an
arms race, we could be facing a ferocious, multi-faceted terrorist threat which
is deeply embedded into all our interests, we could find ourselfs living on
an eco-war ravaged, resource drained and economically collapsed planet with
a hugh population of poor and angry people armed with modern weaponary,
we could face a world with dozens of nuclear armed states and stateless foes
who are trigger happy and theatening our nation and allies or we could find ourselfs
still at the top, with no real near-peers, still fighting unconventional threats and
facing peacekeeping duties where good diplomacy, policing and people on the
ground on foot patrol means more to success than fighter jets dropping bombs.
Hopefully, our airpower planners realize that our advantage in aerospace technology
is a huge deterent to any potential foe and that we must maintain a powerful, large
and cutting edge force of fighters, bombers and support aircraft; both manned and
un-manned.
F-15 Eagle
New Member
GI-Gizmo: Nice find.