Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe DALLAS, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- While marking the 40th anniversary of the allied landings on the beaches of Normandy, President Ronald Reagan evoked the hope that such an act might never again be necessary. "We will always be prepared, so we will always be free," he said. The U.S. Navy's newest nuclear Nimitz-class carrier, the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan, memorializes his vision in the words engraved on the ship's seal: Peace Through Strength, the guiding principle of his national security policy. Advertisement To achieve the necessary strength the Reagan administration had to propose huge increases in the budget for the United States military. Though his detractors dismissed these expenditures as unnecessary at best, warmongering at worst, history shows he was right. The Cold War ended, with freedom as the winner, because Reagan had the political courage to build up U.S. defenses, putting new systems in the pipeline and bringing them on line as needed. Advertisement American is again at such a crossroads. As was the case after the major shooting wars of the 20th century, peace brought with it a reordering of priorities in which defense was downgraded. New enemies and new engagements, as we have recently seen, bring new priorities. The needs of the U.S. military are again up for consideration. As part of a larger overhaul of the Pentagon, the United States Department of Defense has indicated the need for new airborne refueling tankers because the existing fleet is failing with increasingly frequency due to its age. The tankers that make up the existing fleet are, on average, 43 years old. At any given time, the Defense Department says, one-third of them are out of service for repair and maintenance. The planes are, quite simply, falling apart and are in many cases older than the crews that operate them. The need for a new fleet of these flying gas stations is critical. The current tankers cannot perform at a level equivalent to what the new U.S. military requires. The repair costs for the existing planes are escalating. Simply put, they can no longer be relied upon to do the job for which they were built at an acceptable level of risk to the lives of the soldiers and airmen involved in the their operation. Advertisement The Pentagon wants to replace the 100 oldest KC135 refueling aircraft with an equal number of new KC767s, manufactured by Boeing and leased to the U.S. government rather than purchased outright, something that would be too costly under any budgetary calculation. The new tankers -- in addition to not being corroded or stress fractured, as many of the existing KC135s are -- represent a quantum leap forward from the existing aircraft. They take off faster, can operate off shorter runways and carry more fuel. They are equipped with a data-sharing communications package and a newly designed boom operator's cockpit equipped with cameras that permit closer observation of the refueling process. The KC767's can also refueled in flight, increasing their range and capabilities. Early in the negotiations the Congressional Budget Office predicted the proposed lease program would cost $31 billion. After almost two years of negotiation, and thanks to improved financial management at the Pentagon as well as strict OMB guidelines, that amount has been cut dramatically. The new arrangement involves a series of six-year leases totaling about $16 billion over an eleven-year period. Boeing is scheduled to deliver the first KC767 in 2006 and have 63 in service by 2009. The agreement totals $138.7 million per aircraft and includes a lease-buyback provision with the price guaranteed up front. A profit-per-plane cap has also been imposed on the manufacturer. Advertisement In private life and in the private sector, leasing arrangements are common. Families who cannot afford to purchase the new vehicle best suited to their needs outright can turn to a lease as an option to bring home the car or minivan that fits the bill. Expanding businesses frequently turn to leasing arrangements to obtain new office equipment or space they need right away but cannot afford to purchase in full. Most Americans recognize this as a prudent strategy. Under Donald Rumsfeld, the Pentagon is engaged in a major overhaul. Staffing, troop movements, base placement and procurement are all on table with the U.S. military looking for better ways to do address the tasks at hand and plan for the future. Many of these run deep and are controversial because they represent a huge paradigm shift. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, about 1,500 sorties per day took place over Iraq. More than 25 percent were refueling missions. The air war was a critical component of success in battle; the refueling tankers were a critical component in the success of the air war. Tankers are at the heart of America's tactical success. The American Enterprise Institute's Thomas Donnelly and Richard Perle, writing in the Wall Street Journal, concluded that "U.S. airpower would not be a global force but for the ability to conduct aerial refueling." Advertisement The 767 tanker leasing arrangement has been reviewed and approved by four congressional committees, the Pentagon's management and financial staff, the White House, the U.S. Air Force, and the Office of Management and Budget, which issued the leasing guidelines. The Air Force is supposed to deliver its final plan for the acquisition of these tankers to Rumsfeld for his approval by November 1. We trust he will give our military men and women the tools they need to keep us free. And he might suggest naming the first tanker off the line the "Ronald Reagan." ------ -- Kerri Houston is vice president for policy for Frontiers of Freedom, a non-partisan public policy organization dealing with a variety of issues including federal spending and defense policy. -- United Press International's "Outside View" commentaries are written by outside contributors who specialize in a variety of important issues.
