By Marina Malenic
Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday unveiled his recommendations for the department’s fiscal 2010 budget, including termination and scaling back of several big-ticket weapon programs.
“The president agreed to this unorthodox approach–announcing the department’s request before the White House submits a budget to the Congress–because of the scope and significance of the changes,” Gates told reporters at the Pentagon. “Collectively, they represent a budget crafted to reshape the priorities of America’s defense establishment. If approved, these recommendations will profoundly reform how this department does business.”
The secretary has for several months talked about the need to “rebalance” the U.S. military’s portfolio of weapon programs to focus on both irregular conflict and conventional warfare. He also cited cost overruns and “troubled” acquisition efforts as justification for several terminations.
Specifically, Gates recommended the following program shutdowns and reductions:
- Ending production of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet program at 187 airplanes;
- Terminating the V-71 Presidential Helicopter program and developing options for an FY ’11 follow-on program;
- Terminating the Air Force’s troubled Combat Search-and-Rescue helicopter replacement program;
- Terminating the $26 million Air Force’s Transformational Satellite (TSAT) communications system in favor of the purchase two more Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites;
- Significantly restructuring the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) modernization effort by terminating the vehicle portion of the program and restarting a competitive Army vehicle modernization effort at a later date;
- Forgoing a development program for a follow-on Air Force bomber aircraft;
- Delaying the Navy CG-X next generation cruiser program;
- Shifting the Navy Aircraft Carrier program to a five-year build cycle, which would result in 10 carriers after 2040;
- Completing production of the C-17 airlifter program this fiscal year with the 205 planes currently in the fleet;
- Reducing the Missile Defense Agency’s budget by $1.4 billion;
- Ending expansion of ground-based interceptors in Alaska and restructuring missile defense efforts to focus on rogue state threats and theater defenses;
- Canceling the second airborne laser (ABL) prototype aircraft and shifting the program exclusively to a research and development effort; and
- Terminating the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV) program.
Gates said these recommendations were an effort to “critically and ruthlessly separate appetites from real requirements.”
“Every defense dollar spent to over-insure against a remote or diminishing risk–or, in effect, to ‘run up the score’ in a capability where the United States is already dominant–is a dollar not available to take care of our people, reset the force, win the wars we are in, and improve capabilities in areas where we are underinvested and potentially vulnerable,” he added.
Gates said last year’s National Defense Strategy concluded that U.S. predominance in conventional warfare is “sustainable for the medium term given current trends,” but he also said that some additional spending in both conventional and irregular capabilities would be needed. New investments he recommended include:
- Maintaining the Air Force’s KC-X aerial re-fueling tanker schedule and funding, with the intent to solicit bids this summer;
- Accelerating the purchase of the F-35 Lightening II Joint Strike Fighter and increasing FY’10 funding from $6.8 billion to $11.2 billion;
- Beginning the replacement program for the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine program next year;
- Completing and fully funding the end-strength growth in the Army and Marine Corps while halting reductions in the Air Force and the Navy;
- Increasing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) programs in the base budget by some $2 billion;
- Spending $500 million more in the base budget to recruit and train more Army helicopter crews;
- Increase funding by $500 million for training and equipping foreign militaries to undertake counter terrorism and stability operations;
- Increasing special operations personnel by more than 2,800, or five percent, and purchasing more special forces-optimized lift, mobility, and refueling aircraft;
- Purchasing more Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), with a goal to acquire a fleet of 55;
- Increasing the charter of Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV) ships from two to four until the department’s production program begins deliveries in 2011;
- A $700 million increase for fielding Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Standard Missile 3 (SM-3); and
- Spending $200 million to fund conversion of six additional Aegis ships.
In addition to rebalancing spending priorities, Gates said a “fundamental overhaul of our approach to procurement, acquisition and contracting” is needed. To that end, he said an increase in the size of defense acquisition workforce by converting 11,000 contractors and hiring an additional 9,000 government acquisition professionals by 2015 would assist in the work. At the same time, he wants to increase the number of support service contractors from the current 39 percent of the Pentagon workforce to the pre-2001 level of 26 percent and replace them with full-time government employees.
“Our goal is to hire as many as 13,000 new civil servants in FY’10 to replace contractors and up to 30,000 new civil servants in place of contractors over the next five years,” he said.