30 Jan 15. Sources: U-2 in USAF Budget Request, A-10 at risk. The US Air Force will include both the U-2 spy plane and Global Hawk unmanned system in their FY16 budget request, but will once again ask to retire the A-10 Warthog, sources tell Defense News. Both the Global Hawk and the U-2 perform the high-altitude intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) mission, and for several years the Air Force attempted to retire the Global Hawk in favor of the U-2, claiming the older platform was still cheaper and had greater capabilities than the Global Hawk. In its FY15 request, the Air Force flipped, arguing that per-flying hour costs had come down enough on the Global Hawk that the unmanned system was now the cheaper option. The service claimed that retiring the U-2 could save $2.2bn. Those savings dropped dramatically, however, when factoring in the costs for needed upgrades to the Global Hawk that would allow it to fill current U-2 capabilities. It appears the service has now given up on plans to retire either aircraft, and instead will request funding for both. “In the budget they got the topline relief to keep both U-2 and Global Hawk,” one source with knowledge of the budget said. “OSD put it in for the FY16 budget proposal.” Also included in the budget request are “modest” upgrades to the U-2 technologies, the source said. A second source, also familiar with the budget, noted that the number of current and potential conflicts around the world, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to ongoing operations against ISIS and the continued growth of China as a military power, may have made the case for the service that both high-altitude assets are needed. “Of all the areas to be cutting, specialized high-altitude reconnaissance would not be near the top of my list to cut,” the second source said. “I think Global Hawks are really important, really necessary. U-2 seems to be getting a lot of use and it’s amazing they keep it going. I would far rather see cuts someplace else than those two systems. “So if we don’t waste time on sparring between Global Hawk and U-2 this year, that’s a good thing.” While the U-2 may be saved, the A-10 Warthog remains on the cutting board, sources also said. That is not a major surprise, as the Air Force has spent a significant amount of its political capital on trying to retire the jet, which remains very popular in Congress. Speaking in January, service Secretary Deborah Lee James hinted that the service remains likely to retire fleets of planes. “The Air Force will take another run at retiring A-10,” the first source said. “It’s in the category of, ‘no one thinks this is a great idea,’ but under the pressures of sequestration it does the least harm.” That same source added that the KC-46A tanker, F-35 joint strike fighter and Long Range Strike-Bomber programs will remain on track in the new budget request. The service has identified those as its three biggest recapitalization priorities. The sources all agreed that the FY16 budget will look very similar to the FY15 budget request. (Source: Defense News)
29 Jan 15. Obama to propose spending $74bn more in 2016 than mandatory spending cuts. President Obama on Thursday will seek to rally Democrats behind a budget proposal he’ll release next week that would spend $74bn more in discretionary investments than would be allowed under the spending caps mandated by Congress four years ago in an attempt to reduce the federal deficit, according to White House officials. The proposal, a 7 percent increase over sequestration levels, includes $530bn on the non-defense discretionary side, an increase of $37bn over the spending caps; and $561bn in defense spending, an increase of $38bn over the spending caps. The plan prompted an immediate outcry from Republicans. “He is the most liberal, fiscally irresponsible president we’ve had in history,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) in an interview. “I don’t know why he doesn’t see it.” Obam