Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, offered a typical assessment of the problem in a recent interview. I don't know where you come out at. But it's a pretty high figure. And that means older fighters will be kept in service longer, increasing costs for maintenance and spare parts. The F-22's steep price will also reduce the money available for other important aircraft, like midair refueling and reconnaissance planes.
Similar problems confront the other services.
Yet both services recently reported not having enough money this year for basic things like base maintenance, spare parts and salary bonuses. Even before the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the military had begun to shrink from its cold war highs under President Reagan. Through the early 1990's, military spending fell steadily as the Army cut its combat divisions to 10 from 18, the Air Force went from 22 fighter wings to 12, and the Navy from nearly 600 ships to a little more than 300 today. By 1996, spending on procurement, as measured in current dollars, had fallen to the lowest level since the beginning of the Korean War. Since 1991, when Vice President Dick Cheney was Secretary of Defense and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the nation's military strategy has more or less remained the same.