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Air Order of Battle Comparisons

Operation ALLIED FORCE is the largest American air campaign since Operation DESERT STORM, but as of mid-April only a small fraction of available combatant air forces have joined the battle. During DESERT STORM, nearly one-quarter of combat aircraft in inventory, roughly 1,300 out of 5,800 aircraft, were committed to the operation. With the post-Cold War drawdown, the total aircraft inventory [TAI] has declined to approximately 4,100 fixed-wing combat aircraft, of which some 2,600 are combat-ready primary aircraft authorization [PAA] units.

Despite claims that American forces are stretched thin or unable to muster adequate combat power due to budget cuts, the roughly 270 combat aircraft currently committed to Operation ALLIED FORCE constitute only about ten percent of all available combat-coded fixed wing aircraft. Forces committed to operations against Iraq in Operation NORTHERN WATCH and SOUTHERN WATCH include nearly 300 aircraft of all types, of which nearly half are combat aircraft.

While the Defense Department has not released detailed figures for air forces currently committed to Operation ALLIED FORCE, and there is no single readily available authoritative source for current combat aircraft inventories, analysis of published reports provides some insight into additional forces that could be deployed if needed.

In a few instances, largely confined to specialized aircraft which exist in small numbers, a significant fraction of available forces have already been committed to operations against Serbia:

• The two dozen F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters represent two-thirds of the three dozen combat-ready aircraft, while another 17 aircraft are in inventory but not presently combat-coded.
• Of the 21 B-2 stealth bombers which have been delivered to the Air Force, most are in various stages of overhaul or conversion, and only a handful [between 6 and 8] are presently available for combat service.
• Reflecting the requirements for coping with robust Serbian air defenses, as many as 30 of the roughly 120 radar-jamming EA-6B Prowler aircraft have been pressed into service for Operation ALLIED FORCE.

Apart from these exceptional instances, currently deployed combat aircraft otherwise constitute on average about ten percent of readily available forces.

• Some 50 F-15 fighters have been deployed, from a total combat ready force of about 475 aircraft.
• The roughly five dozen F-16 fighters committed to date are but a small fraction of the nearly one thousand such aircraft that are available for combat.
• The two-dozen tank-killing A-10 Wathogs committed to date are backed up by over ten times as many combat-ready Warthogs in the active Air Force, the Reserve, and the Air National Guard.
• The two dozen AH-64 Apache helicopters newly arrived in-theater are only a small fraction of the roughly 750 Apaches operated by the Army.

While the weather has played havoc with the air campaign against Serbia, and Italian airfields are becoming crowded with newly deployed combat aircraft, there is no shortage of American combat airpower. Overall, presently deployed forces are but a small fraction of the total force that could be deployed against Serbia without depleting American combat potential against other global trouble spots.