Protecting funding for the KC-46A tanker and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programs, and for developing a next generation long-range strike capability will be the top priority for the Air Force as the Pentagon faces budget cuts, Gen. Norton Schwartz, the service’s top officer, said recently.
At a time of fiscal austerity the Air Force will have to accept reductions in some programs but should do everything possible to keep funding for the key programs critical to Air Force operations and national security.
“Everything certainly is getting scrutinized,” Schwartz told reporters during a press conference on the sidelines of an Air Force Association conference at National Harbor outside Washington.
The Pentagon is facing at least $450 billion in cuts over the next 10 years as the Obama administration and Congress try to rein in the nation’s ballooning deficit. The Navy and Army are also bracing for spending reductions.
The Air Force in February awarded a $35 billion contract to Boeing [BA] to build the next generation of aerial refuelers to replace its fleet of aging KC-135 tankers. The service has been exploring how to move forward on its Next Generation Long Range Strike to develop a capability in support of Air Force Global Strike. The F-35 has been among the more troubled programs, facing cost overruns and production delays that has already resulted in cutbacks on Capitol Hill.
The Senate Appropriations Committee last week slashed $695 million in funding requests for the plane and kept the production rate at the fiscal 2011 level. Schwartz did not rule out the possibility of getting the funding restored but said the lead contractor, Lockheed Martin [LMT], and the Air Force had to better manage the program.
“Lockheed’s got to perform,” he said, before adding: “And we need to manage the program in a better way.”
Schwartz said the Air Force variant of the F-35 has proven less problematic than the Navy and Marine Corps versions and it has reached a reasonable “amount of maturity.” But he also said the Air Force cannot endlessly defend any program in which costs are out of control.
“I don’t believe in anything at any cost,” he told reporters.
Schwartz noted that the C-17 Globemaster III in its early days faced similar challenges as the F-35 and has since evolved into the world’s most premier cargo aircraft.
“The F-35 has the potential of following in that path,” he said.
Speaking to the AFA conference, Schwartz said that with tighter spending the Air Force needed to better prioritize its needs and take fewer risks on premature technology, and avoid programs where there is not a clearly defined requirement.
“We have to be more calibrated in pushing the technology envelope,” he said. He urged the defense industry to refrain from trying to sell more systems and capabilities to the Pentagon than is operationally required.
“Budgetary pressure will continue to intensify and buying power will continue to decline,” he said.