In a recent article published by War on the Rocks, a USAF F-15 pilot argued that the Air Force needed to modernize its aggressor aircraft, a statement I wholeheartedly agree with because I believe American air power is important to maintain the peace. I’m a fan of the USAF, especially some of its planes like the amazing F-16s and A-10s which are really effective and badly needed today. But he made another statement that I strongly disagree with and that is that the USAF sets the “world standard” for pilot training. (1) This is a very bold statement to make given the pathetic number of flight hours American fighter pilots currently receive and have received in recent years.

For example, in 2013, the conservative magazine National exam reported that American pilots flew fewer hours than those from China, an even competitor. According to the author, “American pilots fly only 120 hours or less per year, a drop of more than 50% compared to ten years ago. In fact, American pilots are now flying fewer training hours than Chinese, Indian or European pilots…”(2) This is only 10 flight hours per month, which is about the same as what the pilots got during the dark days. of the late 1970s when preparedness was dire. (3) Despite all the money that is given to the Air Force, it is still unable to properly train its pilots. Pilots also use simulators, but many don’t think they fully compensate for the lack of time spent in the cockpit. Simulators, for example, are not nearly as stressful as actual combat flights.(4)

According to my calculations based on USAF accident reports between 2011 and 2020, the average A-10 pilot received 15.8 hours per month over a period of ninety days before the accident of 2011 (5), F-15C pilots a paltry 5.8 hours in 2020 (6), F-15E pilots 19.4 hours in 2012 (7), F-16CM pilots only 4, 9 hours in 2020 (8) and F-22 pilots only 12.8 hours per month in 2018 (9). Finally, F-35A pilots flew only 9.1 hours per month in 2020. (10) As a reminder, no aircraft, including extremely expensive stealth aircraft, that the Chinese claim can easily detect (11), no one is better than the pilot..

Previously, only those who flew the F-35, the Air Force’s most expensive fighter program, had low hours, but now all USAF fighter pilots have low hours, especially the F-16, which provides nearly half of the USAF’s fighter inventory. It seems that with his huge budget, throwing more money into the problem won’t solve it. Indeed, they are already throwing big bucks on the F-22 and F-35 which cost anywhere from $50,000 for the F-22 to $40,000 for the F-35A per flight hour according to the GAO.(12) The need now is to design aircraft that are simpler and cheaper to acquire and maintain so that a lot more money can be spent maintaining pilot proficiency, something you won’t read about in the updated book of fire Tom Clancy fighter wing (2004), or in the movie Top Gun or its sequel Maverick, which glorifies American pilots in a way that always suggests they are the best in the world. I’m sorry to say, but they’re not, and I’m not just talking about the poor performance of the Vietnam War either. Honestly, I wish I could say otherwise because I fear a war between the United States and China is brewing. Winslow T. Wheeler, former director of the Center for Defense Information, said the Israelis received 50 hours a month in the 1980s, making it probably the best air force in the world at that time. At the same time, USAF fighter pilots only received about 15-20 hours per month, which is better than today, but still very insufficient.

If we look at the performance of fighter pilots at 20^e century, especially the two world wars, it is clear that American pilots were not the best. A few people suggested looking to American allies like Australia and even Canada, which have historically provided outstanding pilots. In his book Air aceshistorian Dan McCaffery says that “Canada produced far more aces per capita than any other country on earth. wild blue that the Canadians were the best Allied pilots of the First World War, and “the tradition of the Canadians as outstanding fighter pilots carried over into the Second World War, of course”. (14)

In the 1950s, even some senior USAF officers recognized that the Canadians flying the Canadair Mark VI Saber were the best fighter pilots in NATO. For example, in Leslie Robert’s book, There will be wings, he says, “Canada’s supremacy in aerial shooting is no accident, as the trophies demonstrate. At Cazaux in France on April 19, 1957, No. 1 Air Division {RCAF} flew with the prize of team fire competing with the United States and France… An American officer holding a high air rank described the Canadian operation in these terms: “It’s not artillery. They [Canadian pilots] have absolute control of the air in their area. God help anyone who tries to break through the Sabers screen! The view is shared by the British and the French, the West Germans, whose ground staff were trained by the RCAF at Zweibrucken, are equally glowing in their praise of their Canadian teachers. (15) Although the flying hours for the RCAF are also not adequate these days, the RCAF remains a very professional small air force, with an RCAF pilot who won top honors at the US Navy’s Test Pilot School in December 2016, surpassing 30 pilots from USAF, USN, USMC, USCG as well as pilots from UK, Italy and Australia. (16)

One of the reasons Australians and Canadians have produced better pilots is that they don’t use the Up or Out promotion system used by the USAF and therefore commit to being great pilots first. , and promotion comes second. If the USAF put more emphasis on training instead of buying the most expensive plane in the world, it would get better results, which would be amplified if it abandoned the Up or Out promotion system that encourages mindless careerism. and a risk-averse mentality at the expense of competence and professionalism. The USAF could learn a lot from Australians and Canadians if it wants to be the best air force in the world.

REMARKS

1) Ryan Fishel, “Train Like You Fight: America’s Opposing Fleet Update” War on the RocksNovember 1, 2022. warontherocks.com/2022/11/train-like-you-fight-updating-americas-adversary-fleet/

2) Michael Auslin, “US Air Force pilots fly less than China” National examDecember 20, 2013. www.nationalreview.com/corner/us-air-force-pilots-fly-less-chinas-do-michael-auslin/

3)Roger Thompson, Lessons not learned: The Culture of the Status Quo of the US Navy (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2007), p. 111.

4) SkyCombatAce.com, “What Simulators Can’t Simulate” www.skycombatace.com/blog/flight-simulators-cant-do

5) US Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report, A-10C, T/N 80-0282. 75^e Fighter Squadron, Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, 75th Fighter Squadron, September 26, 2011, p. 15

6) US Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau Report, F-15C, T/N 86-0176, 493rd Fighter Squadron, 48^e Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force, Lakenheath, UK, June 15, 2020, p. 20.

7) United States Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report F-15E Strike Eagle, T/N 90-0254, Southwest Asia, May 3, 2012, p. 26.

8) United States Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report F-16CM, T/N 94-0043 Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, June 30, 2020, p. 27.

9) United States Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report F-22A, T/N 07-4146 Naval Air Station Fallon, NV April 13, 2018, p. 9.

10) United States Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board Report F-35A, T/N 12-005053 Eglin AFB, Florida May 19, 2020, p. 13.

11) Michael Peck, “RIP F-35 and F-22: China claims it has radar capable of detecting stealth aircraft”, national interestMay 29, 2019. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/rip-f-35-and-f-22-china-claims-it-has-radar-can-detect-stealth-aircraft-59977#:~ :text=The%20%20stealth%20aircraft%20are%20trained%20in,radar%2C%E2%80%9D%20dit%20Global%20Times.

12) U.S. Government Accountability Office, Weapon System Sustainment: Mission objectives capable of aircraft were generally not achieved and sustainment costs varied by aircraft, GAO-23-106217, November 10, 2022, p. 202, 241.

13) Dan McCaffery, Air Aces: The Lives and Times of Twelve Canadian Fighter Pilots (Toronto: James Lorimer, 1990), p. 1.

14) Chick Childerhose, wild blue (Victoria, Hoot Productions, 1978), p. 68.

15) Leslie Robert, There Will Be Wings: A History of the Royal Canadian Air Force (Toronto: Harrap, 1959), p. 247.

16) David Niles, “Top RCAF Test Pilot”, Canadian Airman’s MagazineJanuary 12, 2017. canadiaviator.com/top-test-pilot-from-rcaf/