By Emelie Rutherford
Congress nixed the Pentagon’s attempt to rejigger millions of dollars in its coffers for re-engining a troubled intelligence-gathering aircraft and launching several new weapons programs.
The four congressional defense panels approved many of the money shifts in the Pentagon’s omnibus fiscal year 2009 reprogramming request. Yet the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) blocked the Pentagon from moving around $63.4 million in Air Forc-e research and development monies for re-engining the E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) aircraft.
That’s according to Oct. 14 documents detailing Congress’ response to the Pentagon’s July 8 request to reprogram billions of funds from the FY ’09, which ended Sept. 30, along with leftover monies from FY ’08.
The cost of re-engining the Air Force’s JSTARS, an effort led by prime contractor Northrop Grumman [NOC], has cost more than projected.
“Funds are required to finance cost growth associated with nonrecurring engineering and flight test for re-engineering of the JSTARS aircraft,” the Pentagon said in its unsuccessful plea to Congress to reprogram the $63.4 million in FY ’09 funds for JSTARS. “Initial estimates did not account for vendor price increases and a change in contracting methods. Replacement of the current JSTARS engines is critical to meeting Combatant Commanders’ operational requirements of climbing to optimal operational altitudes and remaining on station for significant periods of time.”
However, the JSTARS effort received a boost on Sept. 30. Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter issued a memo designating JSTARS as a “special interest program” that receives high-level scrutiny. He also directed the Air Force to continue the JSTARS re-engining System Design and Development phase, “including the development, flight testing, and production of the initial increment of re-engine shipsets.”
“The Air Force should immediately identify and obligate RDT&E and procurement funding necessary to execute this direction,” Carter wrote.
The SAC, meanwhile, also denied several “new start” programs the Pentagon tried to launch via its omnibus FY ’09 reprogramming proposal.
One thwarted request would have shifted $10 million in Army research monies to start an analysis of alternatives of a new aircraft program to replace the now-canceled Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter effort.
The SAC killed a request to reprogram $5 million in Army research funds for the initial acquisition planning and development of a Long Endurance Multi-INT Hybrid Air Ship, a persistent platform with features including full-motion video and ground-moving-target indicator capabilities.
The Senate panel also reduced funding for some attempted Pentagon money-shifts. It only allowed $141.3 million in defense-wide procurement funds, out of a $212.9 reprogramming request, to be moved to help the effort to modify MC-130W Combat Spear support-and-tanker planes so they can provide additional armed over-watch capability in theater.
Congress, meanwhile, approved myriad Pentagon reprogramming requests, according to the Oct. 14 documents, including those for Massive Ordnance Penetrators. Lawmakers agreed to aid the effort to develop and buy the bunker-busting bombs, and then integrate them onto B-2 bombers, by allowing the Pentagon to shift to it approximately $90 million in FY ’08 and FY ’09 funds from different accounts.