United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2005-03-14 monographic deposited born digital 8 p. GA 1.13:GAO-05-316R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R P0b002ee18039e294 f:d05316r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R GAO-05-316R Air Force procurement Aircraft components Comparative analysis Cost effectiveness analysis Evaluation methods Fighter aircraft Military aircraft Military cost control Program evaluation Aircraft refueling methods Joint Strike Fighter KC-10 Aircraft KC-135 Aircraft Correspondence A19397 The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) acquisition program is estimated to cost $245 billion to develop and produce three variants of stealthy fighter aircraft--a conventional takeoff and landing variant for the Air Force, an aircraft carrier variant for the Navy, and a short take-off and vertical landing variant for the Marine Corps and Air Force. A major goal of the JSF program is to reduce costs by maximizing commonality among variants. However, the Air Force conventional variant is being designed with a different aerial refueling method than those used by the two other JSF variants. U.S. fighters use two different methods for aerial refueling. Air Force fixed-wing aircraft are all currently fueled by a boom that extends from a tanker aircraft and is guided into a receptacle. The Navy and Marine Corps fighters use a probe that extends from the fighter to receive fuel when inserted into a drogue, which is a basket-like device on the end of a hose that extends from the tanker. The Senate Armed Services Committee directed that we (1) examine the rationale behind the Air Force refueling decision for its JSF version, (2) determine the savings if the Air Force decided to change its refueling method on its JSF, and (3) determine the operational advantages or disadvantages if the Air Force decided to change its refueling method. This letter summarizes the information we provided committee staff on December 16, 2004. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R.pdf GAO-05-316R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-05-316R Correspondence GAO-05-316R; Air Force Assessment of the Joint Strike Fighter's Aerial Refueling Method; Air Force procurement Aircraft components Comparative analysis Cost effectiveness analysis Evaluation methods Fighter aircraft Military aircraft Military cost control Program evaluation Aircraft refueling methods Joint Strike Fighter KC-10 Aircraft KC-135 Aircraft