By Marina Malenic
President Barack Obama’s $549 billion Defense Department spending request for Fiscal Year 2011 continues last year’s shift to procuring items needed for non-conventional military operations and also strongly backs development and production of the Pentagon’s next-generation fighter aircraft, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, speaking yesterday at the Pentagon, announced that a new three-star program manager would be named this week to replace Marine Maj. Gen. David Heinz. He also said that, because of unexpected program cost growth and performance problems, $614 million in fees would be withheld from prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT].
“The taxpayer should not have to bear the entire burden of getting the JSF program back on track,” said Gates.
The president’s budget request calls for $10.7 billion for F-35 development and for the purchase of 43 aircraft. Production, however, will be delayed by 13 months to extend the test program, a move reflecting new data on cost and performance, according to officials.
Gates also said he would “strongly recommend” that Obama veto any bill that includes money for a congressionally backed program to develop an alternate engine for the aircraft. He also said the veto threat would apply to extension of the C-17 Globemaster production line.
“I am fully aware of the political pressure to continue building the C-17 and to proceed with an alternate engine for the F-35,” he said. “Let me be clear: I will strongly recommend that the president veto any legislation that sustains the unnecessary continuation of these two programs.”
Earlier in the day, Obama singled out the C-17 program as an example of government “waste.”
“We save money by eliminating unnecessary defense programs that do nothing to keep us safe,” he said. “One example is the $2.5 billion that we’re spending to build C-17 transport aircraft.”
The Pentagon requested an end to the program four years ago at 180 aircraft.
“Yet every year since, Congress had provided unrequested money for more C-17s that the Pentagon doesn’t want or need,” said Obama. “It’s waste, pure and simple.”
The budget also requests two consecutive years of approximately $160 billion in war funding in addition to the top line, which is expected to see approximately one percent real growth every year, according to Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale.
Further, the 2011 budget calls for $6.3 billion for U.S. Special Operations Command, a six percent increase over FY ’10 funding. The money would be spent on new equipment, in particular ISR assets, as well as an additional 2,800 new personnel.
The budget also forecasts development of a new bomber and cruise missile beginning in the next five years. The FY ’11 budget includes $5.7 billion for industrial base sustainment, with “the aim of putting real dollars into the budget” for a new bomber in the FY ’12 request, according to Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. From 2011 to 2015, the Pentagon will fund “a portfolio of initiatives to improve long-range strike capabilities,” including upgrades to the legacy bomber fleets, according to budget documents.
In line with that effort, the department has asked the Air Force and Navy to conduct a long-range precision strike study. The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), an analysis of future capabilities that was released in conjunction with the budget, orders the air and sea services to scrutinize options for a capability that would be able to target and deliver precision strikes while surviving electronic interference in an area protected by advanced air defenses.
The QDR also discusses augmenting the capability of a new Virginia-class nuclear submarine with long-range cruise missiles and of continuing development of the Navy’s unmanned combat aerial system (UCAS).
Electronic warfare capability development is also a priority for the administration. “To counter the spread of advanced surveillance, air defense and strike systems, the department has directed increased investment in selected capabilities for electronic attack,” the QDR states. The Pentagon plans to spend $203 million in fiscal 2011 and $2.3 billion in fiscal 2012 for 26 additional EA-18G Growler aircraft.
The United States also must train and equip its less developed military partners, according to the QDR. To support those efforts, Gates will seek a new defense acquisition fund for rapid procurement of equipment needed for such missions.
For the Army’s ground forces modernization program, the budget supports a program to develop a new next-generation ground combat vehicle with $1 billion in FY ’11.
“The design of the new program will take into account the success of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected [MRAP] vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan,” according to budget documents.
The budget also requests $9.6 billion for rotary wing aircraft acquisition, including: $1.4 billion for Army UH-60 Black Hawks; $1.2 billion for Army CH-47 Chinooks; $2.7 billion for V-22 Ospreys for the Marine Corps and Air Force Special Operations Command; and $1.7 billion for Navy MH-60R/S Seahawks.
The administration also proposes creation of two new Army combat aviation brigades. Existing assets will be combined to create a 12th active duty brigade. A 13th could be created by 2015.
The budget requests doubling procurement of the Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle to increase combat air patrols to at least 65 by 2015.
The plan includes $2.7 billion for new efforts requested by the ISR Task Force.
For new ship construction, the spending blueprint requests $14.1 billion in 2011. The Navy’s shipbuilding plan will propose building nine ships in 2011 and 50 total through 2015, including two DDG 51 destroyers, two Virginia-class submarines, two Littoral Combat Ships, one Amphibious Assault Ship Replacement (LHA-R), one Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) and two Joint High Speed Vessels, one of which would be funded by the Army.
The plan would keep the Navy on a five-year build cycle for carrier production, foreseeing a long-term force structure of 10 aircraft carriers by 2040. The sea service would also acquire two attack submarines per year beginning next year. Development of a new strategic deterrent submarine would continue.
The budget plans for awarding an Air Force KC-X tanker contract this summer, with initial purchases in 2013.
The budget request also seeks $9.9 billion for ballistic missile defense programs, including $8.4 billion for the Missile Defense Agency.
“This funding supports the development and fielding of an integrated, layered Ballistic Missile Defense System architecture that provides multiple opportunities to destroy missiles and their warheads before they can reach their targets,” Gates said.
The Navy faces several terminations: the 2011 budget proposes ending its next-generation cruiser program, the EP-3 replacement effort (EP-X), the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance system and the Net Enabled Command and Control program.
The Obama administration has also requested a $600 million increase in spending on the nuclear arsenal. The administration argues that the boost is needed to ensure that U.S. warheads remain secure and functioning as the arsenal continues to shrink. The increase is also required to modernize facilities that support the U.S. stockpile and to retain key expertise, according to administration officials.