Military Airlift

The C-141 aircraft, long considered the backbone of the Air Force's strategic air lift, is approaching the end of its service life. The Air Force is trying to keep the aircraft in operation as long as possible by flying it fewer hours and limiting the weight of cargo flown. Although the C-141 performed well in Operation Desert Shield/Storm, it has experienced serious technical and structural problems. Moreover, the effort to extend the service life of the airplane continues to be delayed because of technical problems and higher funding priorities. If the Air Force sticks with current plans to keep much of the C-141 fleet in active inventory until at least 2010, major work will be required to prevent continued deterioration; even then, use of the aircraft may have to be constrained severely. The physical deterioration of the C-141 fleet and the slow pace at which the service life is being extended will lead to reduced airlift capacity. The problem is exacerbated by delays in the C-17 program, which will not significantly contribute to airlift capacity until the late 1990s at the earliest.

GAO found that: (1) C-141 aircraft were used in more than half of the Air Force's 15,500 missions and carried greater than a quarter of the cargo during Operation Desert Storm/Shield; (2) the Air Mobility Command delayed C-141 maintenance activities, accelerated programmed depot maintenance work, and deferred plans for additional aircraft destined for depot maintenance to make as many C-141 available for deployment as possible; (3) C-141 aircraft nearly doubled their peace time flying hours; (4) structural problems such as wing cracking and weight limitations did not affect C-141 performance; (5) the Air Force has extended the service life of C-141 aircraft to 45,000 hours, but has not completed the necessary service-related work; (6) the lack of funding priority and generalized structural problems contributed to delays in the aircraft's service life extension; (7) wing cracking was attributed to stress encountered during certain types of missions which forced weight, altitude, and mission restrictions; (8) ongoing inspections and repairs reduced the risk of catastrophic aircraft failure, but the level of risk still exceeded acceptable military aircraft standards; (9) the entire C-141 fleet has neared or surpassed the original service life of 30,000 hours; (10) to conserve C-141 usefulness, the Air Force plans to retire and limit the number and types of missions for existing aircraft; (11) the Air Force could experience serious airlift capacity shortages if C-141 delays are not resolved; and (12) the Department of Defense would like to extend the service life of C-141 aircraft to 60,000 hours to complement the ongoing procurement of C-17 aircraft.