As Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D- Mass.) office reported this week, the rate of severe accidents per 100,000 flight hours, was a staggering 55% higher than it was in 2020.
Dan Grazier, director of the Stimson Center’s National Security Reform Program, told RS that the lack of flight crew experience is a problem. “The total number of flight hours U.S. military pilots receive has been abysmal for years. Pilots in all branches simply don’t fly often enough to even maintain their flying skills, to say nothing of improving them,” he said.
This is often because aircraft are not ready to fly.
“One of the main reasons behind the lack of flying time, is the simple fact that modern military aircraft are excessively complex machines that don’t work as often as the services need them to do,” Grazier told RS. He said that popular aircraft, like the F-35, often are not mission capable. “One of the best things Pentagon officials can do [to address this issue] is to insist on simpler aircraft with high readiness rates as a key performance parameter.”
WHAT!. There ain’t no money to be made in such a weapon system.
William Hartung, senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute, stressed Congress’ role in the crisis, where lawmakers often prioritize projects of interest over critical training and operations funds.
Lawmakers “often raid training funds to add weapons to the budget that the Pentagon hadn’t even asked for,” Hartung said. “Congress should make an honest assessment of the cause of the recent spate of accidents before blaming the victims of these terrible tragedies.”
Expensive weapons system that aren’t reliable. And lack of training. This is what we get for nearly $ trillion annually spent on military.
