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FB: Unfunded list. The Air Force lays out programs that didn’t make the cut in its budget request.
The Air Force has released its full breakdown of unfunded priorities for 2016, with aircraft repairs and modernization making up most of the bill, including even funds for some aircraft the service is attempting to retire.
The services on March 27 provided a cost breakdown of programs that didn’t make their budget requests cuts, which lawmakers then can pick to attempt to include in the defense authorization bill. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in a letter to lawmakers, said the budget request includes programs deemed more important than those in the unfunded list.
Carter said he “does not endorse any of these additional priorities unless enacted funding exceeds the amount requested in the president’s budget for 2016.”
Download: Air Force unfunded priorities
The Army, Navy and Marine Corps, with the on March 27 letter, included a full breakdown of costs for individual programs. The Air Force, however, then initially provided only overall costs a shorter breakdown of just total figures for unfunded priorities broken down by type — readiness, modernization, force structure and installation support. This week, the service released its full breakdown following a request from Air Force Times.
“The Air Force does not endorse the FY16 Unfunded Priority List unless the enacted funding exceeds the FY16 PB amount,” Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Melissa Milner said. “It is imperative Congress prioritizes and supports our PB request first before considering these additional requirements. Items on the UPL are above and beyond our budget request but still provide direct support to combatant commanders, reduce operational risk or accelerate the fielding of critical military capability.”
The Air Force’s total unfunded requirements total nearly $5.5 add up to $5.467.7 billion, with the largest chunk, $2.4 billion, going to aircraft modernization. This includes $1.5 $1.473 billion for aircraft systems and equipment, such as infrared countermeasures for KC-135s, C-130s and EC-130Js; F-15 and F-16 radar upgrades; HH-60 situational awareness kits; new cockpit data link and communications equipment; battlefield airmen combat equipment; and advanced simulators for F-16s, C-130H/Js and KC-135s.
Some aircraft the Air Force wants to retire make the unfunded list:
• The Air Force in its budget request is looking to retire half of its EC-130 Compass Call fleet. is Congress or anyone recommending keeping this?mhHAS BEEN ASKED ABOUT A COUPLE TIMES, BUT DOESN’T HAVE THE SUPPORT OF A-10 Should Congress not approve retirement, as some lawmakers have threatened,tThe list states it would cost $75.1 million to fund the EC-130 divestiture buy-back and $60 million for modernization of the aircraft.
• The Air Force is also wants to retire planning on retiring 31 F-15s, but and the unfunded list includes $11.6 million for upgraded electronical warfare systems for F-15s.
• The service has said it would be forced to retire its entire KC-10 Extender fleet if sequestration were to return, but and the list includes $13.5 million for a cargo load training system for Extenders at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The list also includes $132.3 billion for a life extension program for B-1B engines, $160 million for eight additional MQ-9 Reapers, $397 million for deferred military construction, $1.2 billion for 13 additional C-130Js; $397 million for deferred military construction, $364.6 million for base communications, $160 million for formal schools and weapons training and $160 million for eight additional MQ-9 Reapers.
The Air Force has said it needs more capability to address an insatiable need for surveillance, including more Reapers to build on its fleet of 104 drones. The service plans to field 401 MQ-9s to eventually replace the MQ-1B Predator. However, a January report from the Defense Department Inspector General found that 46 of these may be in excess because the service hasn’t accurately explained the need for more of the aircraft.
The Air Force in its budget request is looking to retire half of its EC-130 Compass Call fleet. The list states it would cost $75.1 million to fund the EC-130 divestiture buy-back and $60 million for modernization of the aircraft.
Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Melissa Milner reiterated Carter’s point in saying the Air Force does not endorse paying for the unfunded priorities unless enacted funding exceeds the president’s budget request.
“It is imperative Congress prioritizes and supports our (budget) request first before considering these additional requirements. Items on the UPL are above and beyond our budget request but still provide direct support to combatant commanders, reduce operational risk or accelerate the fielding of critical military capability,” she said.
