AFSAC supports aged systems Published Oct. 4, 2012 By Mike W. Ray Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The U.S. Air Force supports a vast array of weapons systems -- even some that are 60 to 70 years old -- for its myriad foreign partners. "A lot of what we support is no longer in our inventory, but we still support it because that's what our partners need," Brig. Gen. James Haywood said during a recent visit to Tinker Air Force Base. He is the director of the Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. His directorate provides security assistance and cooperation to international partners via Foreign Military Sales. General Haywood is Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command's focal point for administration of the $128.3 billion Air Force FMS portfolio. AFSAC orchestrates AFMC support of security assistance needs to 100 countries and nine NATO organizations. To illustrate, AFSAC oversees systems sales and support for more than 170 models of aircraft -- a fleet that numbers more than 6,600 planes. Some are foreign-made but the vast majority of them were manufactured in the U.S. And while some of those aircraft are relatively new, AFSAC also supports older models, as well, General Haywood related. "We still support C-47s, for example," he said. The "Skytrain" cargo plane was used extensively in World War II by many countries; it transported troops, cargo and wounded soldiers, but is most famous for its role in flying "The Hump" (as the U.S. fought Japan, Army Air Force cargo planes based in India ferried supplies over the Himalayas to American bases in China). C-47s also hauled food, gas and coal during the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift. David M. Haas, chief of Tinker's International Engine Branch in the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, told the general that although Tinker does not physically maintain the J69 engine, "when called upon to do so" his branch provides technical guidance and support for that engine. In addition, the 430th Supply Chain Management Squadron still provides piece-parts support for J69 engines when asked to do so. The J69, which first came off the production line 61 years ago, is a small turbojet engine that powered a number of U.S. drones, missiles and small aircraft; its dry weight is 358 pounds. The J69-9 model -- which is flown by Pakistan and Colombia, according to Mr. Haas -- produces 1,000 pounds of thrust. In comparison, the new F135 jet engine generates maximum thrust of 43,000 pounds and weighs 3,750 pounds. Mr. Haas said Tinker also supports nearly 400 J79s, a turbojet engine that was developed in the 1950s, and almost 2,900 T56 turboprop engines, which entered production in 1954. "Over the years, our ability to build partnership capacity, and the value of that capacity through Foreign Military Sales, continues to increase," General Haywood said. "We aren't in a decline." However, with the global economy sluggish, "There's competition for dollars everywhere, and those dollars are becoming more scarce." Consequently, a Foreign Military Sales customer might have to "sustain something longer" than originally anticipated "instead of getting to a newer capability when they originally wanted." Some of America's foreign partners "just don't have the budget to upgrade and replace capability, so we sustain what they have for as long as we can," the general said.