Colin Clark reports:

The Air Force’s chief of staff was careful to withhold his professional military advice until Defense Secretary Robert Gates gets it, but Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters [Tuesday] morning that he would not “dispute” comments by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs late last year that the service would get an additional 60 F-22s, for a total of 243.

Schwartz then poured cold water on any hopes the Japanese and Australians might have of buying F-22s, saying some of the technologies in the plane are just too sensitive to export. [...]

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that 60 is the exact number everyone has decided on, but Schwartz didn’t try to pour cold water on it either… He did say the final decision should be out very close to the congressionally mandated date of March 1.

If the Pentagon approves 60 more F-22s that's approximately three additional squadrons of the air supremacy fighter, which is respectable--but inadequate. The Air Force's previous desired fleet projection of 381 airframes was, in and of itself, an enormous compromise (planners originally banked on over 600). The Obama administration would nonetheless be making the right choice by choosing to invest in America's continued air superiority, if they go ahead and order the additional jets. Here's another humble suggestion: less money for DoD green initiatives, more for war-winning weapon platforms.

The latest victim is the T-38 Talon, the Air Force's half-century old fighter-trainer:

The Air Force grounded all T-38C training jets Thursday, after the second fatal crash involving the aircraft in eight days, officials said.

Two airmen were killed when their T-38C Talon went down during a routine training mission about 7:55 a.m., according to a statement issued by Sheppard Air Force Base. The two-seater, high-altitude supersonic plane was assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing, a multinational organization that produces future combat pilots for NATO.

The archaic Air Force inventory is killing more Airmen in training than the war on terrorism. Modernization is an expensive proposition, but it certainly beats the alternative.

Jane's reports:

F-14 Tomcat interceptor aircraft antenna, military specification night-vision goggles and body armour were among the "sensitive and stolen defence related items" that the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) found for sale on internet trading sites such as Ebay and Craigslist.

Compounding the problem? The only nation on earth that still flies the F-14 Tomcat is... the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Tehran can only fly approximately 20 of the 79 airframes delivered in the late 70s, as the remaining 59 are subjected to a complex cannibalization process that keeps the single squadron of operational jets in the air. So the numbers used to dictate that Iran needed 3 inert fighters to keep 1 flying. Now, it seems, all they need is an Ebay account.

Last summer Reuben F. Johnson reported in this magazine on the Navy's poor history of securing spare parts for the F-14.

Air Force cuts totally awesome flyovers by over 50 percent:

...it can seem there's hardly an event without a flyover these days. The roar of jet engines is heard at everything from Major League Baseball games to NASCAR races to town fairs and community parades. With requests for flyovers rocketing nationwide - to 3,623 last year, a 37 percent jump from the previous year - the Air Force says it is cutting back.

Instead of providing flyovers at 108 NASCAR races, as they did four years ago, Air Force officials this year approved 38. Some National Football League teams used to have flyovers at every home game; now they're limited to four flyovers a season. And Major League Baseball teams are also now limited to four flyovers a year: for the season opener, the first games of the playoffs, and the World Series.

Last year, the Air Force approved 843 flyovers, down from 1,009 in 2006.

F-16s from the Virginia Air National Guard (now flying the F-22) would occasionally fly over our parades back when I was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute. Motivating stuff, and almost impossible to keep your eyes locked forward and your head properly aligned when there are fine Virginia Gentlemen doing 200 knots directly above you.

Still, the Air Force made the right call here. Mission first, mission always. The Thunderbirds fly the oldest F-16s in the fleet for this very reason: wartime requirements are more important than razzle-dazzle aerial spectacles.