Aerospace and defense

The U.S. military operates fleets of Cold War-era aircraft that will not be replaced any time soon. For the Pentagon, this creates daunting challenges, experts warn. Airplanes will have to fly much longer than planned and, at a time of tight budgets, the cost of maintaining aging equipment is projected to soar.

The Defense Department is slowly coming to grips with the situation, said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Donald J. Wetekam. “We are in unknown territory” on how to keep aircraft flying indefinitely, he said. The Air Force, the branch of the military most affected by aging planes, expects to operate many of its aircraft well beyond their original design service lives. But it does not necessarily know how long components will last, if replacements will be available or if they can be remanufactured, said Wetekam, a senior vice president of AAR Corp., a logistics company that does business in military and commercial aviation.

Military Challenged to Maintain Decades-Old Aircraft