U.S. House Lawmakers Add $1.1 Billion for Army, Air Force Programs

Apr. 26, 2012 - 12:03PM |     By KATE BRANNEN and MARCUS WEISGERBER
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120426/DEFREG02/304260003/U-S-House-Lawmakers-Add-1-1-Billion-Army-Air-Force-Programs?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

U.S. House lawmakers frustrated by Air Force and Army decisions to cancel weapons in the 2013 budget have taken the first steps toward reinstating funding for those programs.

In its markup of the 2013 defense authorization bill, the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical air and land forces recommends adding $1.1 billion above what the Pentagon requested for certain weapons programs.

The draft legislation would block the cancelation of the Northrop Grumman Block 30 Global Hawk program. It directs the Army to continue to buy combat vehicles.

If the legislation were approved, it would require the Air Force to operate the unmanned aircraft through the end of 2014.

The Pentagon requested $75 million for the Global Hawk Block 30, the subcommittee added $263 million to fund continued operations.

The subcommittee would fully fund procurement of 29 Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft. It also funds 36 General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft, 12 more than the Air Force requested in its 2013 budget proposal.

To buy the additional 12 systems, the subcommittee added $180 million to the Air Force’s $920 million request.

The markup authorizes multiyear procurement of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey and funds production of 21 tilt-rotor aircraft in 2013. It also extends the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet multiyear for a fifth year and funds 26 F/A-18s and 12 EA-18G Growler electronic attack aircraft. It recommends providing an additional $45 million for Growler advanced procurement, which would continue production in fiscal year 2014.

It also authorizes new multiyear procurements for the Army’s CH-47 Chinook, which is built by Boeing.

The subcommittee would prohibit the Air Force from spending money on development of a new radar that would replace the E-8C JSTARS. It calls for a report on how the Air Force will maintain the command and control capability of the E-8C.

It also calls for blocking funding for the Boeing MQ-18 Hummingbird unmanned helicopter “until the Chairman of the Joint Requirements Oversight Council certifies that the MQ-18 UAS is required to meet a capability in the Department of Defense manned and unmanned medium-altitude intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance force structure and that an existing UAS cannot meet the required capability or be modified to meet the required capability.”

The subcommittee’s markup recommends fully funding the Army’s Ground Combat Vehicle, which is currently in the technology development phase.

While the subcommittee is supportive of adding a third maneuver battalion to the Army’s Heavy and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (BCTs), it is worried the Army plans to cut too many heavy brigades.

With the 2013 budget request, the Pentagon announced the Army would be cutting eight BCTs, as part of its troop reductions. In the active duty force, the Army has 17 Heavy BCTs, 20 Infantry BCTs, and eight Stryker BCTs. The Army has stated that at least two of the eight BCTs being eliminated would be heavy brigades.

This spring, Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, testified that the Army is conducting a force-mix study that could lead to further heavy brigade cuts. He also said the Army’s tank fleet is in excellent shape and therefore the Army has decided to temporarily shutdown the production lines for the M1 Abrams tank and the Bradley fighting vehicle until upgrades were needed beginning in 2017.

In its markup of the authorization bill, the subcommittee says not enough information is available about the Army’s future needs or the risks associated with temporarily closing the combat vehicle production lines.

In the absence of the force-mix study results and a quantitative analysis of the impacts to the combat vehicle industrial base, the subcommittee recommends providing funding to keep those production lines open.

The subcommittee recommends an additional $181 million for continued M1 Abrams tank upgrades and $140 million for upgrades to the Bradley fighting vehicle. It also adds $62 million to increase 2013 production for the M88A2 Improved Recovery Vehicle.

The subcommittee would also like a report on potential future roles for the Army’s UH-72 Lakota helicopter, built by EADS North America. Today, the helicopter supports National Guard operations in the United States, assisting in border security, disaster response and troop transport. The subcommittee would like more information on the costs associated with making the helicopter suitable and survivable in combat operations and non-permissive environments.

The subcommittee encourages the Army to continue to pursue an alternative engine for the Shadow unmanned aircraft system. Today’s engine runs on high-octane gasoline, creating a difficult logistics burden for soldiers, the report notes.

The subcommittee would also like to see the Army develop a soldier-wearable universal controller for all of the robots and unmanned aircraft systems, cutting back on the number of proprietary controllers that exist in the force today.

The mark adds $250 million for National Guard and Reserve equipment.