USAF 2010 Request Lacks Major New Initiatives
Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com
The U.S. Air Force's $160.5 billion Fiscal 2010 budget request is notable more for what is absent, compared with the tradition of including a bevy of new projects.
Along with the end of C-17 and F-22 production, the Air Force budget includes only two new starts -- $439 million to begin another competition to replace KC-135 aerial refuelers, as expected, and $9.5 million in seed money to begin the Common Vertical Lift Support Program (CVLSP). This will replace aging UH-1N Hueys used by Air Force Space Command for aerial support to nuclear weapons convoys and some executive lift operated out of Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
The service's baseline Fiscal 2010 top-line falls just under total Fiscal 2009 allocation of $161.4 billion, although the latter includes war supplemental funds. The service further expects to get about $16 billion more in supplemental war spending in Fiscal 2010. Growth in what the Air Force calls its "blue" topline, or discretionary funding, is about $2 billion over Fiscal 2009, which falls short of inflation, says Patricia Zarodkiewicz, deputy budget director for the service.
In past years, the USAF intentionally short-changed infrastructure and personnel accounts to pay for modernization programs, mainly the F-22 and C-17. Next fiscal year, however, the service is requesting $91 million to shut down the Long Beach, Calif., C-17 line (the balance would come later once international orders cease). Another $64 million is needed to dismantle the Marietta, Ga., F-22 line.
A decision has not yet been made on whether to maintain some F-22 tooling in a "warm" status or to fully close production, Zarodkiewicz says.
In Fiscal 2010, installations maintenance accounts are supposedly short by about $2 billion, and repair and sustainment funds are short by about $800 million. However, Zarodkiewicz says, the service's budget is "well balanced" this year with hefty needs to end a string of personnel cuts, with a force level of 331,700 airmen planned in Fiscal 2010 and another 1,000 in Fiscal 2011.
Also emphasized in the request are funds for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft and accounts that support nuclear activities. The latter was required after a series of mishaps in the service's handling of nuclear weapons. Zarodkiewicz says the Fiscal 2010 request includes about $900 million in requests for ISR systems, including new sensors.
Most major Fiscal 2010 shifts - including delaying a new Combat Search and Rescue-X (CSAR-X) procurement and next-generation bomber competition - were announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates April 6.
Stunting CSAR-X is forcing the service to buy two H-60Ms, the variant used by the U.S. Army, to add to 95 HH-60G Pave Hawks now in service. Specialized mission systems will be added later so that they are optimized for the CSAR mission, Zarodkiewicz says.
The Air Force also will assume oversight of the Joint Cargo Aircraft (JCA) program, now led by the Army, during Fiscal 2010 though the details are not yet sorted out. The service plans to buy eight of those C-27J aircraft, built by L-3 Communications/Alenia North America in Fiscal 2010.
