Here are the programs that made the biggest news over the past week:
HAC-D takes on Army helo debate — Lawmakers waded into the Army’s AH-64/UH-60 debate during a House Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing last week,
we reported. The Army wants to move AH-64 attack helicopters from the National Guard to the active component, providing them with UH-60 utility helicopters instead, a decision the Guard is not pleased about. HAC-D Chairman Rep. Rodney Frelingheysen (R-N.J.) called it a “contentious issue” in his opening remarks, and another lawmaker from Arkansas said the Blackhawk couldn’t handle all the Guard’s missions. The Army replied by saying it had no choice because of the current budget situation. The Guard clearly has some allies in Congress; the question over the coming months is whether it has enough of them to help reverse — at least partially — the Army’s realignment. And, if it does, lawmakers will have to figure out whether they will have to take money from elsewhere to do it.
Software problems shadow F-35B — The Government Accountability Office said in a report last week that the Marine Corps’ variant of the F-35 could see a 13-month delay from achieving initial operational capability (IOC) in July 2015, we reported. The program faced software delays last year due to problems with the software, which was often delivered late, according to GAO. Even worse, the problems could spread over to the Air Force and Navy variants, driving up costs for the program. The GAO has long been critical of the progress of the F-35 program, frequently predicting delays since the program’s inception. If it is right again, such a delay may have major implications on both F-35 and F/A-18 aircraft procurement.
MH-60 hammered by ship cuts — The slash in Littoral Combat Ship buys and the loss of an 11th carrier means some serious collateral damage for the MH-60 Seahawk helicopter, which will see its buys cut as a result, the Navy’s budget official said last week, according to Seapower Magazine. In all, the Navy cut 29 helos from fiscal 2016 “specifically tied to the decision on the 11th carrier and its associated air wing,” and the limitation on the LCS fleet will affect future buys as well. The future of the MH-60 program will be decided in the fiscal 2016 budget: if the Navy decides to inactivate the carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73), it will cut the 19 MH-60 helicopters slated to fill out its air wing, as well as a few set aside for maintenance.
Navy to fight Ohio-class delay — A funding shortfall in fiscal 2014 could delay development of the Ohio-class replacement submarine by six months, according to Seapower Magazine. The problem centers around a loss of $150 million in Department of Energy funding for manufacture of the submarine’s reactor core. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told Congress last week that he’s going to do everything possible to prevent that: “We will reconcile this,” he said. Considering that Greenert has described the Ohio-class replacement as the Navy’s “highest-priority program,” and with concerns already growing about the program’s schedule and cost, the Navy is likely to do everything in its power to prevent any further complications.