Where's the money? Despite $600Bn military budget, Air Force pilots cannibalizing jets in museums to keep planes in the air

Enrico Braun
Russia Insider
Sat, 14 May 2016 09:00 UTC

Despite a military budget of nearly $600 billion, many US aircraft can't even get off the ground

An investigation by FOX News has revealed the deplorable state of the US Air Force. A visit to Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota revealed that of 20 B-1 bombers stationed there, only 9 were airworthy.

Airmen reported being overworked and overdeployed due to a shortage of personnel. The investigation also found that an F-16 squadron in South Carolina was lacking 41 parts for its aircraft.

Capt. Travis Lytton of the 28th Maintenance Squadron said that the Air Force was currently cannibalizing jets in museums in order to keep its planes in the air.

The question remains why the much vaunted "world's most powerful military" with a budget of nearly $600 billion - by one measure, about 1/3 of all global military spending - is still flying aircraft produced in the 1950s (the B-52) and is unable to keep many of its planes airborne due to parts shortages.

US defense spending graph compared to other countries

Donald Trump and other Republican candidates for president will, as is their perennial custom, demand increased military spending to "rebuild our military." Yet clearly lack of money is not the issue.

But I guess it's Russia which allegedly has the massive problem with corruption?

Comment: The amount of corruption in the US military industrial complex is simply staggering. Where's the $600 billion a year military budget going? Perhaps, despite spending billions upon billions of dollars a year, the US military isn't as mighty as they want everyone to believe.

Reader Comments

Yupo · 2016-05-14T22:52:41Z

Questionable.

... but I will check out the details with locals as I live in an F-15E town. A few years ago there was little flying for a while because of budget cuts and fuel prices. Planes have been pretty active lately.

gdpetti · 2016-05-15T02:28:04Z

well..

Obviously, $600 billion isn't what it used to be.... can't be provide a few spare parts for some old B-1s... guess we can thank the Fed for that too.

baron · 2016-05-15T10:09:11Z

Torsion Physics, Scalar Technology

has made conventional weapons obsolete. Yet again, I bet the USAF has no problem getting parts and fuel for Tanker Aircraft for which there are no planes to refuel.

It's time to leave the conspiracy theories for toddlers behind and face up to reality, to the real truths.

The money isn't going to the military here. It's going to the military there, that's right, the breakaway civilizations military, the ones with the antigravity technology idiots are still calling UFO's, or better still, denying even exist. It's going to fund off world bases. What money is going here is going to fund undersea cities, subterranean cities and tunnels. It's going to fund a ruling class which is currently snubbing it nose at the people and their laws.

This is an excellent article. Yes indeed, where are all our tax dollars going?

Quote of the Day

"We have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great as between ourselves and the peoples of Asia. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity without positive detriment to our national security. To do so, we will have to dispense with all sentimentality and day-dreaming; and our attention will have to be concentrated everywhere on our immediate national objectives. We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford today the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction."

~ US State Department, 1948

- George Kennan

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bbrebozo

I can see this coming soon to a country near you. Anyone who does not comply will be accused of violating someone else's rights.

ReRan

Play in the dirt you're gonna get dirty. Quit whining and take your well-deserved lumps. LOL

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Where's the money? Despite $600Bn military budget, Air Force pilots cannibalizing jets in museums to keep planes in the air

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