The KC-46, Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and the B-21 programs would all be negatively affected if the Air Force enters fiscal year 2017 under a long-term continuing resolution (CR), service Secretary Deborah James warned Wednesday.
James told reporters at the Pentagon that a six-month or even year-long CR are possibilities. Appropriations bills have stalled in the Senate as lawmakers argue over various issues from gun control to Zika virus funding. It is expected that the new fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1, will begin without a new budget as lawmakers prefer to allow new power structures from the election to play out. The only question is how long the new fiscal year will operate under FY ’16 funding levels.
“We are hearing that either a six-month CR or one-year CR is at least a possibility,” James said. “This would be a very bad deal for the Air Force.”
James said the Air Force would face a $1.2 billion shortfall if a 12-month CR was introduced as that is how much more the service requested in FY ’17. James said more than 60 Air Force acquisition new starts and upgrades could be affected, including those to existing platforms like the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft (RFA), the C-130 and B-52. All of these platforms, she said, require upgrades.
JDAM production would be limited to the FY ’16 quantity, James said, which she feels is unacceptable in light of current operations. The military is firing missiles and dropping bombs on Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria at a higher rate than it had planned to produce them, forcing commanders to reach into reserve weapon stocks to continue the fight (Defense Daily, May 27).
KC-46 production would be capped at 12 aircraft, instead of the 15 requested in FY ’17. James said this would also delay operational fielding of the aerial refueling tanker, which she said is ready for a major meeting later this month to set the table for a critical Milestone C decision.
James also said the program would then require a formal meeting with Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) Frank Kendall before potentially receiving the green light to proceed into low-rate initial production (LRIP).
The B-21 bomber program, James said, would be capped at FY ’16 levels, which she said would limit development, slow the program and risk the aircraft’s deterrent capability. James said the Air Force wants the new bomber ready in the 2020s.
James said the Air Force has boosted a RPA retention bonus to $35,000, effective Oct. 1, to retain RPA pilots at the end of their active duty commitment. This is up from the current bonus of $25,000, she said. The Air Force also now has 100 percent manning at its RPA training units, James said, and has doubled the undergraduate and graduate pilot output over the last two fiscal years.
The Air Force is responding to a RPA pilot shortage due to growth in demand for the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) products produced by remotely piloted aircraft. James did not say whether the retention bonus boost was contingent on a spending bill being signed into law. The Air Force did not return a request for comment by press time Wednesday.
James said the Air Force hasn’t forgotten about its manned pilots. She said she is still working with Congress to update a retention bonus for the Air Force’s fighter pilots. James and former Air Force chief of staff Gen. Mark Welsh had warned for years of a looming pilot shortage due to a surge in hiring from commercial airlines. James said the service faces a shortfall of 700 pilots by the end of the year and possibly 1,000 fighter pilots a few years from now.
To increase pilot production, James said the Air Force will soon standup new F-16 training units. She said the service expects to select candidate locations for up to two new training locations by December. In the meantime, James said the Air Force intends to augment up to two existing training units to jump start pilot production by the end of 2017.