Congress continues to be a vocal critic of the way the Pentagon has been handling the MQ-9 Reaper program, arguing that the service is cutting buys when it should be increasing them — and Senate authorizers have issued another rebuke of the Air Force’s Reaper acquisition plans by nearly doubling this year’s buy.
It was the appropriators who had the harshest words for the Pentagon when the fiscal 2014 budget cut MQ-9 buys by 12 aircraft the year after Congress had added 12 the year before, calling the move a “complete and brazen contradiction of congressional intent.” Authorizers generally have agreed, also expressing concern with the Air Force continuing to ramp down Reaper buys despite growing demand for the platform in the field.
Although House Authorizers had nothing to say on the program, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s markup authorizes and additional $480 million and 24 aircraft, bringing the total buy up to more than $1 billion for 53 aircraft.
Noting that the Air Force had included the program in its “unfunded priorities” list, the committee authorized the funding to “support increased combatant commander requirements for medium altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support.”
In addition, the committee stepped in to authorize another $11.7 million for the acquisition and support of mission kits for the MQ-9 by U.S. Special Operations Command.
“The committee strongly supports SOCOM’s efforts to accelerate fielding of advanced weapons, sensors, and emerging technologies on its fleet of MQ–9 UAVs,” the bill report states. “The committee has authorized additional funds above the budget request in each of the last 3 years to enhance these efforts and understands that SOCOM has successfully developed and acquired a number of new capabilities, including improved weapon effectiveness, target location and tracking, image resolution, and video transmission during that time.”