NORAD Commander: Air Sovereignty At Risk

By John M. Doyle

The head of North American Aerospace Defense Command told Congress March 17 that the military unit charged with defending U.S. and Canadian airspace could have trouble maintaining sovereignty of the skies without aircraft recapitalization.

In his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Air Force Gen. Victor Renuart Jr. noted that legacy F-16 fighters are aging and “will be stressed to maintain reliability and capability as we move into the 2013-2025 time frame.”

Renuart said recapitalizing the fighter, tanker and airborne early warning aircraft will remain a challenge given the Defense Department’s post-9/11 long-term mission requirements.

If legacy fighters are retired without a designated replacement being fielded in adequate numbers, NORAD will have a hard time accomplishing its missions, said Renuart, who is also in charge of U.S. Northern Command. The new four-star chief of the National Guard Bureau made similar comments earlier this month (Aerospace DAILY, March 5).

Under questioning by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), an advocate of increasing production numbers for the F-22 Raptor, Renuart noted that most of the force he depends on to maintain air sovereignty resides in the Air National Guard, many units of which are flying older versions of the F-16. While he is not worried about filling the gap in the next 10-15 years, Renuart said he is less comfortable with the outlook for the next five to 10 years because “there is a production build coming and we want to make sure we can maintain the existing force.”

Renuart said he anticipated F-16s would be supplemented by F-22s and eventually the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, although the Pentagon was still working out details.

Photo: USAF