Legacy Fighter Aircraft Upgrades and New Stealth Fighters Research Paper

Legacy Fighter Aircraft Upgrades and New Stealth Fighters - Research Paper Example 563; Collier & Ankle, 2002, p. 13). While terror seemed to be seeped within regional efforts supported by allied forces to weaken the perceived enemies, however, there is perceived military imbalance in strategic geographic region where US military’s power seemed bit nil, if not weak, but is nonetheless complemented with diplomatic relations, such as those security threat cases posed by China and of North Korea in Asia. The odds of denuclearization efforts and hazy economic-political climate within the region as well as the sustaining movements in the Arab countries remained both a threat and opportunity for the US forces to rethink about the need to upgrade the capacities for warfare (Collier & Hoeffler, 2006, p. 89; Deger & Sen, 1983, p. 67; Harbom & Wallensteen, 2007, p. 623; Reynal-Querol, 2005, pp. 445) In the last decade, US forces have been focused in combating terror groups in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and in working with reformists’ organization within the Arab region with hope to change the system and make it more liberal in its trading relation. However, amid these challenging turn of events, there are also intrinsic realities posed by Pentagon about the need of the military aviation forces to scale up its defence or operational system, such as upgrading of its its USAF fighter platforms from F-22 to new F-35s, as well as by upgrading the aerodynamics or aircraft systems. In this project, the researcher will determine the (a) prices of the F-35s and the cost of upgrading its aerodynamic systems, (b) the capacity of the US government and military agency to allocate budget for these projects, and (c) the consideration of the legislators on the fiscal requirements for this upgrade. Data Collection This is a qualitative research that will investigate the requirement in upgrading the military aviation forces of US and to hopefully embark comparative details of these matters with consideration of the current deliberation of the needs and cost analysis of the upgrade. Qualitative study will rely in primary and secondary sources that can be lifted from interviews, reports, publications, magazines and online information. The study will help elucidate the prospect and consequence of plan to upgrade the military aviation system. Data gathered will be reviewed, collated and evaluated to arrive at a reasonable conclusion that may (or may not) aid the decision-making of the legislations and authorities in Pentagon. The researchers evaluate the information based on historical records, plans of the DoD, and budget schedules as well as its estimates (GAO, 2012). Test reports were also considered including the risk information of the new capabilities (GAO, 2012). Data Analysis Last month, July of 2013, the Department of Defence of the United Sates announced of forging an agreement to purchase 71 F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin at a lower cost of 4% less than the original prices for stealth and radar evading fighter jets but discounts will only be for 36 units and another 8% less for the remaining 35 units (Drew, 2013). Reports mentioned that the cost, including the ancillary facilities, are pegged at $7 billion per unit thus, state authorities require the reduction of the cost while other cost analysts outside the government batted that the cost would be rising still. The high costs and the anent problems associated in the acquisition have also discouraged other Pentagon officials and thought of scrapping