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The Air Force diverted a W247.6 billion (US$1=W939) budget for aircraft maintenance for other purposes or contingencies between 2000 to 2005, an investigation found . The fact was discovered by a Defense Ministry inspection last May, and senior military officers in the inspection report suggested more effort was needed to achieve full combat readiness. But there was no improvement in maintenance or budget allocation even after their recommendations were submitted.
The revelation comes after investigators discovered that the latest crash of a KF-16 fighter jet last month was due to poor maintenance and could have been prevented.
According to the Defense Ministry report on the Air Force's use of the equipment maintenance budget obtained by the Chosun Ilbo on Wednesday, the Air Force diverted W125.2 billion from 2000 to 2005 originally allotted for equipment maintenance for other projects and the remaining W122.4 billion for contingencies such as restoring typhoon damage. Of the W125.2 billion, W111.2 billion was used for the production of KF-16 fighter jets and W14 billion to develop the Korean-made T-50 sonic jet trainers. Of the remaining W122.4 billion, W66.2 billion was spent on fixing damage at the Gangneung Air Base after a typhoon in 2002. The facts emerged in a Defense Ministry inspection last May. Earlier, experts pointed out that the rate of aircraft operation had dropped due to a shortage of maintenance funds.
According to the report, the lifecycle of some aircraft was curtailed because components of some planes standing by for maintenance were used for other aircraft since the Air Force had problems procuring components at the right time due to a budget shortage. Components were swapped on no fewer than 2,106 occasions (521 for KF-16 fighters, 295 for F-4 fighters, and 1,290 for F-5 fighters) in 2005, and on 423 occasions in January and February 2006 alone.
The report points out that the budget shortage for maintenance was made worse because what money there was, albeit insufficient, had been diverted for other purposes. As a result, the Air Force's combat readiness plunged, with the rate of fighter aircraft operation falling from 89.3 percent in 2000 to 77.8 percent in the first quarter of 2006, the report said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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