Military aviation officials and defense contractors will have a merry Christmas if the $1.1 trillion fiscal year 2015 budget is approved as agreed upon on 10 December passes both houses of the US Congress.
The Department of Defense netted $93.8 billion in procurement funding, of which $31.9 billion is slated for aircraft purchases by the air force, army and navy.
Congress authorised the purchase of a total 38 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs, nine more than were bought in fiscal year 2014 and four more than the Obama administration requested. The order funds two additional F-35As for the air force at $224 million and two F-35Cs for the navy at $255 million.
The navy also will receive authorisation to purchase 15 Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft for $1.46 billion. Those aircraft were not included in the navy’s 2015 budget request, but the service included atop its list of unfunded priorities. Twelve EA-18Gs were added into a bill passed by the House that died without a vote on the Senate floor.
Though it rewards the navy, the bill denies the air force authority to retire its Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolts by funding the fleet’s maintenance at $337.1 million. The plan, pitched as a cost-saving measure by a cash-strapped air force, met with strenuous opposition on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers have been promising to preserve the A-10.
On the plus side, the air force will secure $100 million for its new combat rescue helicopter to “help pay down the Air Force identified shortfall in fiscal years 2016 and 2017”, a summary of the bill says.
The service also will net $102 million for a single Lockheed Martin MC-130J special operations tactical airlift aircraft and $90.5 million to fund continued operation of the 31-aircraft fleet of Boeing E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system radar aircraft.
Aircraft development programs also will come out ahead. The air force’s three primary modernization programs – F-35, long-range strike bomber and Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling tanker – all were granted full funding for fiscal 2015. The navy’s unmanned carrier launched airborne surveillance and strike (UCLASS) also will receive full funding.
The army's aviation branch will receive an extra $341 million to upgrade up to 12 additional Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and nine Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks. The bill also “limits” the transfer of Apaches from the national guard to active units – part of the Army’s aviation restructuring plan – until enactment of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
