lenochs%drcoa1.decnet@drcvax.af.mil (DRCOA1: :LENOCHS) (05/10/91)
From: "DRCOA1::LENOCHS" <lenochs%drcoa1.decnet@drcvax.af.mil> The following is extracted from pictographs in the May 1991 issue of 'Air Force Magazine', pages 16-17. This issue is the annual Air Force Almanac issue and is quite interesting. (When my source lets me see the whole issue, I'll provide more stuff...he just copied this page for me.) [ start quoted material ] AIRLIFTERS - KC-135: Mission Capability Rate increased from 86% to 89%. Average sorties per day rose from .4 per day to 1.3 per day. 264 of the total 595 KC-135s were deployed to the area. KC-10: Mission Cap Rate was maintained at 95%. Sorties per day rose from .4 to .6. 43 of the total 57 KC-10s were deployed. C-5: Mission Cap Rate rose from 69% to 78%. Flying hours per day rose from 1.8 to 10.3 on average. 90% of the fleet was committed to Desert Shield/Storm. C-141: Mission Cap Rate rose from 80% to 86%. Flying hours per day rose from 3.2 to 11.9 on average. 80% of the fleet was committed to Desert Shield/Storm. C-130: Mission Cap Rate rose from 78% to 84%. Flying hours per day rose from 1.7 to 4.6 on average. 32% of the fleet was committed to Desert Shield/Storm. FIGHTERS - (Note: "Utilization rate here referes to the average number of sorties flown per aircraft. Pre-war time frame is Oct 89 to Jul 90. War time frame Jan 17 to Feb 22, 1991.") F-15C/D: Mission Cap Rate rose from 85.1% to 93.7%. Utilization rate rose from 20.3 to 43.3. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.36 to 5.32 hours. F-15E: Mission Cap Rate rose from 80.4% to 95.5%. Utilization rate rose from 18.6 to 38.7. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.68 to 3.27 hours. F-16: Mission Cap Rate rose from 90.2% to 95.4%. Utilization rate rose from 20.6 to 46.9. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.49 to 3.24 hours. A-10: Mission Cap Rate rose from 90.4% to 95.5%. Utilization rate rose from 22.5 to 47.5. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.58 to 2.37 hours. F-117: Mission Cap Rate rose from 81.8% to 85.8%. Utilization rate rose from 14.2 to 29.7. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.55 to 5.20 hours. F-4G: Mission Cap Rate rose from 83.7% to 88.7%. Utilization rate rose from 19.2 to 38.5. Average Sortie Duration rose from 1.34 to 3.71 hours. [ end of quoted material ] No data presented for B-52, U-2/TR-1 or RF-4. [ or SR-71. Sorry, Duane 8-) ]. Some quick observations: There are some really tired strategic airlifters out there (C-5/141)! Fixing the deferred discrepancies and performing the overdue overhaul and phased maintenance requirements will keep MAC's maintenance folks busy for months. The dramatic increase in sortie duration and utilization rate, across the board, for the fighter fleets was not reflected in the mission capability rate. Maintenance analysis theory states that as the number of sorties increase and the number of those longer sorties increase, the availability for the aircraft will go down, because of the increased wear and tear on the aircraft's components. This did not happen in the desert; which is surprising, given the sand [ jet engines *hate* grit ], lack of 'home drome' facilities and some limited battle damage. Hats off to the mechanics!! Some interesting food for thought. As I get more information, I'll pass it along. Loyd M. Enochs - Dynamics Research Corp - Andover, MA.