US military aircraft in decay, over half of fleet unable to fly – Marine Corps
RT.com
15 Apr, 2016
The US Marine Corps has complained that 70 percent of their strike jets are not airworthy due to aircraft age and lack of funding to renovate them.
According to statistics provided by the Marine Corps to Fox News television channel, only 276 Hornet strike jets in their service are airworthy, which amounts to 30 percent of the fleet. Also, out of 147 heavy-lift Super Stallion helicopters, only 42 are operational.
Officers at military air stations in South Carolina, which the channel spoke to, name several reasons for the alarming state of the Marine fleet, such as budget cuts, the fight against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) in Syria and the toll of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq all contributing to the problem.
US military spending dropped from $691 billion in 2010 to $560 billion in 2015. Lack of funds has forced the Marines to seek unconditional ways to procure the needed parts. They were reduced to ‘cannibalizing’, or taking parts from one aircraft to get another one airborne.
This even led to the snatching of aircraft parts from museums in order to keep planes flying, according to the Military Times news outlet.
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