Jane Edwards
David Gerber, senior principal systems engineer at Mitre, said the company’s recent study suggests that the Air Force should postpone the retirement of legacy bombers until the B-21 aircraft is available in substantial numbers, the Air Force Magazine reported Friday.
He said at a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event Thursday that the service branch should realize the full value out of the bomber aircraft by spending sustainment funds on efforts to increase the aircraft’s mission capable rate, which is equivalent to “30 additional bombers†worth of capability.
Gerber said the Mitre study also recommended that the Air Force should extend tanker production “indefinitely†and purchase a fighter variant of the T-X trainer aircraft in support of homeland defense missions.
The Mitre study is one of the independent analyses conducted in response to a congressional order to assess the Air Force’s aircraft inventory and its needs to meet the requirements of the National Defense Strategy.
