One of the goals laid out in Donald Trump's campaign for president was to re-establish the U.S. military as the best in the world, with the latest technology available at their fingertips. Trump used this issue at fundraisers to drive home his point that Democrats had let the military decline to the point that the equipment used by the military was in serious need of updating.
Trump drove this point home during a fundraiser in Dallas, telling the crowd about what he perceived as the sorry state of the military, specifically planes that are currently in use. Trump said this:
"Remember, we’re the ones with the jet fighters that are 20 years old that we have to go to graveyards, plane graveyards, to get parts to use on our jet fighters, to have our great young people to fly in planes where they go into junk yards and museums to get parts for current fighters, while our opponents and our so-called allies are buying our planes, and they’ve got the new beautiful versions of them, and we’ve got old planes, I mean literally obsolete planes. It’s not going to happen anymore, folks, ok?"
Our partners at PolitiFact decided to see if his statement was accurate. PolitiFact reporter Joshua Gillin says that Trump's claims rate MOSTLY TRUE on the Truth-O-Meter. Gillin says that Trump's claim is accurate, but not necessarily for the reason that you might think.
"We checked with people who are familiar with this subject matter," said Gillin. "What they told us is that, yes, the Air Force has planes that have been in service for decades, like the B-52. Some fighter jets that are in use are newer, but it's not like the automobile industry where a new model comes out every year and consumers have the choice to trade in and upgrade."
Regarding the idea that the Air Force has to pull parts from plane "graveyards?" Gillin says that Trump's claim about that is also accurate. "What we've been told is that when parts are needed to repair a plane, the replacement part is pulled off of a plane that is in storage," said Gillin. "That's not necessarily because there are no parts available, but more because of the fact that it's faster and cheaper to go get the parts from planes in storage that were purchased and mothballed."
Gillin notes that there's no law saying that the Pentagon can't buy new. "Those plane manufacturers can and do sell newer versions of their jets to other countries," said Gillin. "It's just like any other business. If you have a product, you're going to sell the most recent version to whoever wants to buy it, and that's perfectly legal, and if the Pentagon wants to put in orders for new planes, they would receive those new versions, just like any other customer."
Gillin says that experts agree with Trump that new jets are being sold to other countries, and that the U.S. does indeed utilize plane "graveyards" for parts, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think, which leads to a MOSTLY TRUE rating on PolitiFact's Truth-O-Meter.
SOURCES: U.S. utilizing plane "graveyards"?
- PolitiFact ruling
- Video, Mr Trump’s 757, YouTube, Aug. 18, 2011
- News article, Donald Trump’s aging air fleet gives his bid, and his brand, a lift, Suzanne Craig, The New York Times, April 16, 2016
- News article, Trump lives in the jet set, and he’s not afraid to show it, Jenna Johnson, The Washington Post, Feb. 27, 2016
- News article, "Wiped out: Air Force losing pilots and planes to cuts, scrounging for spare parts," Jennifer Griffin and Lucas Tomlinson, Fox News, May 14, 2016
- News article, "Congressional failures just forced the Marines to raid a museum for aircraft parts," Leo Shane III, Military Times, March 30, 2016
- Emails, Carl Rhodes, director of Force Modernization and Employment Program, and Obaid Younossi, director of Resource Management Program, RAND Project AIR FORCE, via Lisa Sodders, media relations officer, RAND Corporation, June 22, 2016
- Emails, Todd Harrison, director of Defense Budget Analysis, Center for Strategic and International Studies, June 21, 2016
- Article, "Pulling parts," Andrew Lee, AIRMAN, Jan. 30 2013
- Report, "Country Profile: United Arab Emirates (UAE)," Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, July 2007
- News article, "Compatible military equipment vital to stable Gulf, US official says," Mahmoud Habboush,The National, Nov. 17, 2009
- Blog Post, "Top Falcons: The UAE’s F-16 Block 60/61 Fighters," Defense Industry Daily, Jan. 26, 2014
- Transcript, "Department of Defense Press Briefing by Maj. Gen. Martin, Brig. Gen. Fienga and Deputy for Budget Gleason on the FY 2017 Air Force Budget Request in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room," Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget Major General James F. Martin Jr.; Air Force Deputy for Budget Carolyn M. Gleason; Brigadier General Edward A. Fienga, Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary for Programs, Feb. 9,. 2016.
- News article, "SecAF, CSAF testify on FY 2017 AF posture," Hailey Haux, Secretary of Air Force Public Affairs Command Information, U.S. Air Force News, Feb. 10, 2016
- Report, "USAF Posture Statement 2016," Deborah Lee James and Mark A. Welsh III, Feb. 10, 2016
- Video and transcript, House Armed Services Committee Hearing, Defense Department Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Proposal, March 22, 2016
- News article, "Northrop Grumman wins $21.4 billion Pentagon contract," Helene Cooper, New York Times, Oct. 27, 2015
- Press conference transcript, "Department of Defense Press Briefing by Maj. Gen. Martin, Brig. Gen. Fienga and Deputy for Budget Gleason on the FY 2017 Air Force Budget Request in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room," Department of Defense, Feb. 9, 2016
- Video and transcript, House Armed Services Committee Hearing, Defense Department Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Request, CSPAN, March 17, 2015
- Blog post, "What you need to know about the sequester," White House blog, March 1, 2013