By Ann Roosevelt
The Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (SIRFC) Radar Warning Receivers for the MH-60M Black Hawk are No. 1 on the $413 million list of unfunded priorities U.S. Special Operations Command sent to Congress this week.
The 31 items on the list are those the command says it needs, but could not accommodate in the $5.7 billion fiscal year 2009 budget request submitted to Congress earlier this month.
The command requested $74.8 million for SIRFC procurement for the specialized MH-60M Black Hawk helicopter produced by Sikorsky [UTX]. SIRFC provides the ability to evade modern radar directed air defense threats.
SOCOM’s FY ’08 unfunded requirements list also included a request for SIRFC equipment for MH-60M DAP aircraft.
Specialized aircraft equipment includes the No. 2 priority item on the list: $30 million in research, development, test and evaluation funds for the Gunship Lite Prototype/Test Bed. Scattered through the list are other aircraft needs, including: $16 million to procure Gunship Multispectral Sensor 2 (GMS 2) readiness spares; $23.5 million for AC-130U Plus-4 25mm gun systems; and $12 million for the AC-130H battle management center simulator, and $1.7 million for AC-130H aircrew information/mapping system upgrade to the M2M server.
Equipment for individual soldiers is needed, the command said, including No. 3 on the list: $15.4 million for special operations visual augmentation hand held imagers: HHI Long Range and HHI Pocket. The imagers were also among the top five priorities in the FY ’08 list. The command is also interested in survivability, asking for $1 million in RDT&E funds for freeze dried plasma.
Weapons needs included No. 6: $9.2 million in procurement funds for high performance in-line sniper scope, and No. 10: $5.8 million in weapons accessories, and No. 15: $4.3 million for MK17 sniper support rifles and MK48 machine gun modifications.