New Report Analyzes Decline in Number of Aircraft Operated by the Army

October 11, 2024

In analyzing the availability and use of aircraft by the U.S. Army from 2000 to 2023, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published a 16-page report finding that the number of manned aircraft has decreased and availability has increased. Average flying hours per aircraft have fallen since 2011.

CBO previously analyzed the availability and use of aircraft in the U.S. Air Force and the Department of the Navy (including the U.S. Marine Corps). CBO used data from the GCSS-Army Enterprise Aviation data system to evaluate six categories of Army aircraft — namely, three fleets of large helicopters, or rotary-wing aircraft (the Black Hawks, Apaches, and Chinooks); other rotary-wing aircraft, which now consist solely of Lakotas; manned fixed-wing aircraft; and large unmanned aerial systems, or UASs, which are more commonly known as drones. (The category of other rotary-wing aircraft formerly included now-retired Iroquois utility helicopters and Kiowa multirole reconnaissance helicopters.)

The data CBO used for this analysis have three limitations. First, the Army’s data system does not tabulate data about smaller tactical UASs (of which the Army has many), so those aircraft are not analyzed here. Second, data about the large UASs do not appear in the system until January 2021 even though the Army operated those aircraft before then. Third, the helicopters operated by the Army Special Operations Command have not appeared in the data system in recent years.

Here are CBO’s findings about the fleet’s size, availability, and use:

Size. As of 2023, the Army had about 3,900 manned aircraft, most of which were helicopters. The service had an additional 700 large unmanned aerial systems (commonly called drones). Since 2000, the number of manned Army aircraft has generally declined.

Availability. Unlike the Air Force and the Department of the Navy, the Army experienced an upward trend in the availability of its aircraft from 2000 to 2023. In 2023, the Army’s average availability rate for manned aircraft was 68 percent — that is, those aircraft were in the possession of operational squadrons and capable of being flown for missions for 68 percent of total possible hours. Since 2005, availability of H-60 Black Hawk helicopters (the Army’s largest fleet) has generally been increasing.

Use. The Army used its helicopters more during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan than at other times over the 2000–2023 period. Total flying hours for manned aircraft peaked in 2008 (at 1.22 million), and average flying hours per aircraft peaked in 2011 (at 302). In 2023, manned aircraft flew for 0.77 million hours, and the average aircraft flew for 198 hours.

Recent changes. Aircraft availability rates Army-wide increased during the initial months of the coronavirus pandemic, whereas flying hours markedly declined. Both availability and use returned to near-normal levels by early in fiscal year 2021.

Whereas the average Air Force aircraft was 28.3 years old as of Oct. 1, 2017, the average Army aircraft has been considerably newer. The comparison between the two services’ aircraft is problematic, however. The Army changes a helicopter’s tail number when the aircraft is upgraded (for example, making an AH-64D Apache into an AH-64E), thereby resetting its age to zero. By contrast, upgraded and modified Air Force aircraft keep their tail numbers, so their ages are not reset.

Those differing approaches reflect a fundamental difference in the stresses borne by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The stresses experienced by fixed-wing aircraft during flight result in wear and tear on the wings and fuselage over many years. Those components are difficult to replace, so extending the service life of fixed-wing aircraft to mitigate accumulated damage can necessitate extensive and costly repairs.

The stresses experienced by helicopters during flight are borne largely by the rotor systems (such as blades and hub components), which are designed to be replaced at regular intervals; the fuselage structure of a helicopter is not typically a life-limiting component. Thus, remanufactured helicopters are often considered to be new, but the service life of modified fixed-wing aircraft might still be affected by wear and tear accumulated during prior service.

Check out the full 16-page report in the link below.

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