AF looks to trim procurement, R&D in 2013 - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

AF looks to trim procurement, R&D in 2013

The new Air Force 2013 budget proposal trims the service’s spending to $154.3 billion, down from $162.5 billion the year before.

Procurement is being slashed by some $3 billion while research and development spending is cut by $500 million.

“We understand that the Air Force must do its part to reduce spending and it made the difficult choices necessary to achieve those savings,” said Maj. Gen. Edward Bolton Jr., deputy assistant Air Force secretary for budget on Feb. 13. “We firmly believe though this is not a choice between national security and fiscal responsibility.”

The Air Force is only buying 54 aircraft in this new budget, with fifth generation fighter taking priority.

The service is buying 19 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, slowing down its earlier plans to ramp up production to 24.

About 98 jets were moved outside the Air Force’s five-year defense plan. Bolton said the decreased rate of production would help to address the concurrency between developing, testing and building the new stealth fighter. It will also free up money for the service’s other priorities, he said.

The Air Force is still going to buy 1,763 of the fighters. The overall Pentagon buy for the year is 29 planes, which are being purchased for $6.1 billion. The Pentagon is going to spend an additional $2.7 on development work. The Air Force share of that is $1.2 billion for development and $3.5 billion for production.

The Air Force is planning to buy 24 MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft for $885 million. The service bought 48 of the aircraft last year, but Bolton said that the proposed buy would still put the Air Force in position to meet its goal of flying 65 combat air patrols by 2014.

The Air Force is continuing to buy Hercules transports. The service is buying seven aircraft for Special Operations missions — two new AC-130 gunships, four MC-130J tanker-transports and one HC-130 aircraft for $ 835 million. The service bought four Hercules last year.

The Air Force is buying four CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors this year, down by one from the year before. The Pentagon’s goal is to buy 458 Ospreys in total: 408 for the Navy and Marines, and 50 for the Air Force. The Pentagon is buying nearly $2 billion in spare parts of the Osprey in 2013.

The Air Force is also buying upgraded radars for the F-15C/D and it is extending the lives of part of it F-16 fleet. It is also funding communications upgrades for the B-2 stealth bomber and increased precision weapons capabilities for the venerable B-52 bomber force.

The service continues modernization of the KC-10 and KC-135 tankers and the C-17, C-5 and C-130 transports — but the Avionic Modernization Program for the older Hercules has been axed.

The C-27J was also culled.

The Air Force is also terminating the Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance aircraft and Light Mobility Aircraft programs (LiMA).

The Global Hawk Block 30 was also terminated; Bolton cited poor sensor performance as a primary reason. The Air Force would have to buy expensive new sensors for the aircraft to bring it up to the same capability as the U-2, he said.

The truncated research and development budget continues to fund the KC-46 tanker with four initial aircraft being built for development and test. The KC-46 program is budgeted at $1.8 billion for the year.

Meanwhile, the service is continuing its efforts to develop a new stealth bomber. Marilyn Thomas, Air Force deputy for budget, said that funding for the program is $292 million for the year.

The total spent on the new nuclear-capable bomber between now and 2017 will be $6.3 billion. The aircraft will leverage existing subsystems such as contemporary engines and radar to remain affordable according to budget documents.

The Air Force is also spending $808 million to upgrade its prized fleet of 150 combat-coded F-22 Raptors with the new Increment 3.1 hardware and software modification. The new configuration increases the jet’s strike capabilities. The service is also continuing work on Increment 3.2 that would further increase the jet’s already potent air-to-air sting. It would also add better electronic protection and better Link-16 receive capability.

The Air Force is also requesting nearly $1.3 billion for C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft upgrades. F-16 avionics upgrades, B-2 defensive systems upgrades, Space Based Infrared System upgrades and modernization of the Minuteman III ICBM are also being funded.

The Common Vertical Lift Support Platform program is not cancelled, but Thomas said, “we took all the funding out.”

Instead of buying a new helicopter, the Air Force will rely on surplus U.S. Marine Corps U-1N Hueys. The service has also invested in better security at its missile sites, which should help mitigate the need for new helicopters, she said.

The MH-60 recapitalization program has been renamed — it is now called the Combat Rescue Helicopter, Thomas said. There is research and development money starting in the ‘13 request, she said. Procurement should start in 2016, she added. The service has a budget of $60 million to “missionize” the UH-60M it has already bought according to Pentagon documents.

The Pentagon is also spending $423 million on continued production of the radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile for a total of 180 missiles. It will also spend $200 million for 314 infrared homing AIM-9X dogfighting missiles. The Air Force is also buying more Joint Direct Attack Munitions, Small Diameter Bombs and Hellfire air-to-surface missiles.

However, Thomas said that the funding for the next generation Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile “has been removed from the budget” due to affordability reasons.

The Pentagon is also buying four Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle rockets for $1.7 billion. The Air Force will also buy two GPS III satellites for $1.3 billion and two Space Based Infrared System satellites for $950 million.