Committee denies DoD request to cut UAV funds - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Committee denies DoD request to cut UAV funds

The House Armed Services Committee denied a recent Pentagon request to chop hundreds of millions of dollars from several key UAV programs.

The powerful committee ordered the Defense Department to keep $71 million for the RQ-4 Global Hawk strategic spy jet since the “program has been consistently underfunded in the area of spare parts,” according to a July 30 letter from committee chairman Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., to Defense Department comptroller Robert Hale. “The committee encourages the Air Force to obligate these funds as soon as possible in order to support ongoing operations in” Iraq and Afghanistan.

Air Force officials have repeatedly said they are not happy with the Northrop Grumman-run Global Hawk program because the per-plane cost keeps rising.

Northrop officials say the military keeps increasing the requirements while buying the UAVs in small batches.

The lawmakers also denied the Pentagon’s request to cut $68 million from the MQ-9 Reaper because “the Air Force has negotiated an option under an existing contract where these funds will be used to meet existing ISR shortages,” according to the letter. It does not clarify what the option is or what those ISR shortages are.