Air Boss

Following its decision to submit a solo bid for the Air Force's $35 billion next-generation tanker competition, EADS North America today announced it has added recently retired Air Force Gen. Arthur Lichte to the firm's board of directors. Lichte retired on Jan. 1, following a stint as head of the service's Air Mobility Command.

"General Lichte's leadership experience in command positions at squadron, group and wing levels -- as well as commander of the Air Mobility Command -- will provide valuable perspectives as our company brings its proven, mission-ready solutions to America's warfighters," EADS North America Chairman Ralph Crosby said in a statement.

According to a bio of Lichte's service in the EADS statement:

He previously served as Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and Director, Air Force Staff, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., with responsibility for Air Staff organization and administration. Lichte also was the Deputy Chairman of the Air Force Council, and was the Air Force accreditation official for the Corps of Air Attachés. In addition, his experience included assignments at the Strategic Air Command, Air Mobility Command, U.S. Transportation Command, and United States Air Forces in Europe.

As a command pilot he logged more than 5,000 flying hours in various aircraft, including the C-5, C-17, C-20, C-21, C-32, C-37, C-130, EC/RC-121, KC-10, KC-135, VC-25, VC-137 and UH-1N.

Last September, Lichte said at a conference that his service faced a gap of at least 46 aerial refuelers, as Inside the Air Force reported at the time:

Right now, the Air Force flies a mix of 474 KC-135 and KC-10 tankers, according to a chart presented by Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Arthur Lichte during a Sept. 16 presentation at an Air Force Association-sponsored conference.

“We know with a requirement of 520 to 640 that we are already seeing a gap,” Lichte said. “We only have 474 tankers, so there’s already this gap that we have out there.”

At the same time, it will cost the Air Force up to $6 billion per year late in the next decade to maintain its aging fleet of KC-135 tankers, according to Lichte. The expected cost is double a previous estimate done in 2001 and first reported by Inside the Air Force in March.

“I’d rather pay good money and have new airplanes . . . flying rather than all this money for airplanes sitting on the ground in maintenance status,” Lichte said during a Sept 15 briefing with reporters. “As we delay, it’ll take longer to replace that entire KC-135 fleet.”

The previous KC-135 cost study was conducted before a major boom in tanker missions following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Since then, tanker sorties have increased dramatically to support combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, in addition to refueling fighter jets that constantly patrol the skies over the United States as part of Operation Noble Eagle.