The U.S. Air Force’s new unfunded priorities list includes billions of dollars to buy more aircraft in fiscal year 2018, including F-35A fighter jets, MC-130J special operations transports and KC-46A tankers.
The Air Force would spend $1.8 billion to buy 14 more Lockheed Martin [LMT] F-35A Lightning IIs, boosting its total FY 2018 purchase to 60 jets, the document shows. While the Air Force’s recently unveiled budget request would provide $5.4 billion for 46 F-35As, service officials have said they want to reach an annual production rate of 60 as soon as possible (Defense Daily, May 23).
“With increased funding, we would invest in these capabilities now to ensure they do not compete for funding with critical nuclear and space requirements in the out-years,” the document says.
The unfunded list also contains $1.2 billion to buy 12 more Lockheed Martin MC-130J Commando IIs to address “emergency warfighting readiness requirements.” The budget request would fund five MC-130Js.
The Air Force would also like $600 million to buy three more Boeing [BA] KC-46A Pegasus tankers, adding to the 15 aircraft in its budget request. The service is eager to replace its KC-135 Stratotankers, which are over a half-century old.
Several items on the list would speed up the development of the EC-X, the replacement for the EC-130H Compass Call electronic-attack aircraft. But the program’s fate is unclear. While the Air Force has picked L3 Technologies [LLL] to lead the replacement effort, Boeing has filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), citing a lack of competition (Defense Daily, May 25). The GAO is expected to weigh in on the challenge by late August.
The list also includes $147 million to conduct risk reduction for the Air Force’s Penetrating Counterair Aircraft, which might be the service’s sixth-generation fighter; $181 million to improve the Northrop Grumman [NOC] B-2 bomber; $191.3 million to buy three General Dynamics [GD] Gulfstream C-37B transport planes; and $103.2 million to retrofit C-5 and C-17 transports with countermeasures to defend against shoulder-launched missiles.
The list contains tens of millions of dollars for “game-changing technology,” including $70 million for a high-power microwave weapon prototype to knock out digital electronics, $15 million to develop an ultra-endurance aerial platform to conduct surveillance, and $10 million for a hypersonic weapons prototype.
The unfunded list totals $10.7 billion, with readiness and modernization accounting for $6.7 billion, or almost two-thirds. It includes $1.8 billion for infrastructure, $772 million for space, $563 million for cyberspace and $360 million for nuclear deterrence operations. Various airmen needs, such as communications gear, explosive detection equipment, night-vision devices and F-35 maintenance training instructors, total $504 million.