Le point de vue de l’USAF sur le JSF (à lire entre les lignes, — à peine)

Air Force Magazine reste une des meilleures sources “ouvertes” pour connaître le point de vue “officiel-officieux” (“officieux-officiel”?) de l’USAF sur les grands problèmes qui la concernent. Notre attention se porte, avec le numéro de juillet, sur l’inévitable JSF. L’article “The New Air Force Program” est bâti autour d’interviews informelles du secrétaire à l’Air Force Michael Wynne et du général T. Michael Moseley, chef d’état-major.

L’extrait ci-dessous concerne effectivement le JSF…

« However, the Air Force won a major concession in that, if the F-35 program is delayed, F-22s will remain in production until the F-35 is ready to be built. It was deemed necessary that the nation maintain a warm production line of modern “fifth generation” fighters, and a bridge buy of F-22s is possible if the F-35 program hits any lengthy snags in development.

» “Many of the F-15s have not even passed half their life” expectancy, Wynne told reporters in late 2005. “So we really have quite a phenomenal weapon system in that regard, that can be ... quite a partner to an F-22.”

» Moseley told reporters in April that the Air Force is considering maintaining a force of 196 F-15Cs for the foreseeable future but that it hasn’t been decided yet whether these aircraft would receive a major upgrade, such as advanced radars, to improve their reach. The Air Force in late spring was working on a number of fighter roadmaps to determine the best course of action to take on these legacy fighters, Moseley said.

» Both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, in their Fiscal 2007 budget deliberations, approved the Pentagon’s plan to give the Air Force more Raptors, but the Senate Armed Services Committee didn’t go along with USAF’s plan to enter a multiyear contract on the airplane. The House, however, OK’d the multi-year plan on the condition that DOD provides the requested justification. The two houses have not yet ironed out their differences.

» The Air Force’s requirement for the F-35 strike fighter has notionally hovered around 1,700 aircraft for several years, but the QDR seemed to set the stage for a smaller number. Moseley said acquisition could fall to between 1,100 and 1,400 aircraft, but he added that the program still is too new for the Air Force to make a final decision. If the program is delayed, and more F-22s are purchased, fewer F-35s might be needed.

» Such a scenario moved one step closer to reality when the Senate Armed Services Committee deleted $1.2 billion from the F-35 program, saying the aircraft is behind schedule.

» The F-22 and F-35 buys also will depend on how gracefully the rest of the fleet ages. Cracks have been discovered in the wings of most of the A-10 fleet, which already was due to receive precision attack upgrades as well as an engine upgrade. If USAF decides to invest in those upgrades, it will take money away from other parts of the global attack portfolio.

» “So, between F-22 and F-35 is an interesting set of interconnected decisions on the rest of our tactical inventory,” Moseley said. »

L’extrait ci-dessus nous confirme trois choses, directement ou entre les lignes :

• Le phénomène de vases communicants est officiellement établi entre le F-22 et le F-35, au détriment du second. Le JSF sert à l’USAF d’outil pour tenter de prolonger ou de renforcer le F-22, — le “interesting” dans la phrase de Moseley en dit quelques tonnes (« “So, between F-22 and F-35 is an interesting set of interconnected decisions on the rest of our tactical inventory »)

• La commande USAF de F-35 est maintenant clairement fixée entre 1.100 et 1.400, mais avec possibilité de changement clairement envisagée, vers la réduction bien entendu : « If the [F-35/JSF] program is delayed, and more F-22s are purchased, fewer F-35s might be needed. »

• L’USAF a l’air d’envisager sans trop de tristesse la réduction budgétaire et l’allongement du programme F-35/JSF en train d’être mis en place par le Congrès. Cette attitude est contraire à celle du cabinet du secrétaire à la défense (ou bien celui-ci a-t-il évolué?). C’est l’accélération du mécanisme tendant à prolonger le F-22 au détriment du F-35. Dès lors que le Congrès soutient un prolongement implicite du F-22 (ce qui est implicite avec l’approbation d’une commande pluriannuelle du F-22), l’USAF supportera un retard du JSF avec réduction de la commande, et même elle le favorisera.

Mis en ligne le 8 juillet 2006 à 12H01