The Defense Department plans to divest its fleet of A-10s and U-2 spy planes when it formally submits President Barack Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget request next week, with the A-10 cuts to be fiercely resisted on Capitol Hill.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlined DoD’s priorities with the FY ’15 budget request in a preview Monday at the Pentagon. Hagel, in his prepared remarks, said the Air Force would reduce the number of tactical air squadrons–including the entire A-10 fleet–to fund investments, including $1 billion in what he called a promising next-generation jet engine technology. Hagel said divesting the A-10 fleet would save $3.5 billion over five years and accelerate the Air Force’s long standing modernization plan, which called for replacing the A-10s with the F-35 in the early 2020. There are 283 A-10s in service across the entire force, Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Erika Yepsen said Monday.
A senior DoD official said during a Monday morning briefing said the next-generation jet engine technology effort is an example of the Pentagon’s need to keep its industrial base healthy and preserve critical capabilities unique to DoD. The official also said getting a “more fuel efficient, more long-lived jet engine” for tactical aircraft and bomber aircraft would be important. The Pentagon has had a number of engine technology programs over the years, with the latest being the Adaptive Engine Technology Demonstration (AETD) program. The Air Force in September 2012 awarded General Electric [GE] a $350 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract as part of the program. Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX], was also selected for the AETD program (Defense Daily; Sept. 25, 2012).
Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) will surely lead the battle against divesting the A-10s as last year she put a hold on the nomination of Deborah James to become the Air Force’s secretary over the rumored plans to cut the A-10. Ayotte said last September she was concerned divesting the A-10 before the F-35 was ready could create a capability gap and cost lives (Defense Daily, Sept. 27).
Hagel said DoD could move forward without the A-10 because it’s a 40-year old single-purpose airplane originally designed to kill enemy tanks on Cold War battlefields and cannot survive or operate effectively against more advanced aircraft or air defenses. The advent of precision munitions, Hagel said, means many more types of aircraft can now provide close air support, including B-1 bombers and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA). Hagel also cited the A-10’s cost of maintenance.
The proposal to eliminate the U-2s in favor of the Global Hawk line of RPAs is a stark reversal from the FY ’13 budget request when the Pentagon proposed divesting the Global Hawk Block 30s in favor of the U-2s, only to have Congress bar DoD from doing so in its defense authorization bill. Hagel said the about-face was due to the Pentagon being able to reduce the Global Hawk’s operating costs over the last several years and the RPA’s greater range and endurance, making it a better high-altitude reconnaissance platform for the future.
Rene Freeland, a spokeswoman for Northrop Grumman [NOC], which builds Global Hawk, said yesterday the Global Hawk Block 30s and 40s have the same payloads and specifications, but are designed to carry different intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) packages. Block 30s are configured to carry an Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS) and an Airborne Signals Intelligence Payload (ASIP), Freeland said, while the Block 40s use an AN/ZPY-2 multi-platform radar technology insertion program (MP-RTIP) sensor, an advanced air-to-surface radar for wide area surveillance of fixed and moving targets.
DoD also proposed slowing its growth of armed RPAs, scaling back from 65 to 55 its force of around-the-clock combat air patrols of Predators and Reapers, both manufactured by General Atomics. Hagel said DoD would still be able to surge to 71 combat air patrols under this plan and would continue buying “the more capable” Reapers until it has an all-Reaper fleet.
Hagel also warned Congress that if sequestration-level cuts are reimposed in 2016 and beyond, the Air Force would have to retire 80 more aircraft, including the entire KC-10 fleet and Global Hawk Block 40 fleet. Hagel also said without sequestration budget caps being removed, the Air Force would also buy 24 fewer F-35As through FY ’19 and sustain 10 fewer Predator and Reaper 24-hour combat air patrols. The Air Force would also have to take deep cuts to flying hours without the elimination of budget caps, Hagel said.
DoD’s full FY ’15 budget request is slated to be released March 4.