The U.S. Air Force is ending development efforts for the A-10, as the service wants to decommission the service’s more than 200 close air support jets by 2028.
Such development efforts have include the Central Interface Control System (CICS), an advanced computer to replace the A-10’s Central Interface Control Unit (CICU), which manages pilot graphics and communications.
A $4 billion omnibus reprogramming request by DoD Comptroller Mike McCord on June 30 asks Congress to approve a reduction of about $81 million from A-10 modernization, including more than $21 million for CICS and more than $8 million in research and development for the Operational Flight Program (OFP).
“Funds are excess due to planned A-10 divestiture,” according to the reprogramming request. “The Air Force stopped work on the [CICS] development program after completion of preliminary design review. Funds originally planned to continue CICS development are no longer required based on Air Force plans to divest the A-10 fleet by 2028.”
In 2019, the Air Force said that it wanted to replace CICU in order to improve processing power and reliability of the unit (Defense Daily, Aug. 13, 2021).
The Air Force had said that it wanted to award a CICS contract in fiscal 2022 to deliver “a state-of-the-art processor affording a reliable, maintainable and capable foundation should there be future A-10 modernization programs.”
The reprogramming request said that the Air Force has ended OFP, which aimed to update the A-10’s software to integrate advanced weapons and improve the A-10’s situational awareness, targeting, navigation, communications, and cyber security.
Under OFP, the Air Force’s 309th Software Engineering Group at Hill AFB, Utah said in May that it planned to replace the A-10’s Oracle [ORCL] Solaris 10 operating system with the Northrop Grumman [NOC] ReVAMP emulator software package (Defense Daily, May 19).
The former Sun Microsystems, acquired by Oracle in 2010, developed Solaris–a Unix operating system–in the early 1990s.
Solaris 10 “is past end of life and will no longer be approved for use on the government network after CY [calendar year] 2023,” the Air Force has said.
The June 30th DoD reprogramming request also asks Congress to redirect more than $17 million from the A-10 wing replacement program and $18.9 million from the A-10 Airborne Radio Communications (ARC)- 210 program.
“In accordance with 10 U.S.C. 2244a, the Air Force will not modify aircraft that are planned for retirement within five years of the modification date,” according to the reprogramming request. “The Air Force is retaining and executing funds required to ensure the A-10 is safe and operationally viable through divestiture.”
The Department of the Air Force asked to reprogram more than $1.5 billion, including a $731 million increase for operations and maintenance, $370 million for mobilization, $172 million for personnel, and $108 million for missile warning/missile tracking (MW/MT) satellites for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency.
In fiscal 2023, Space Force “received a congressional increase to develop an additional plane of Wide Field of View SVs [space vehicles] in the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture Tracking Tranche 1 to increase global MW/MT coverage in support of combatant commands to include INDOPACOM,” according to the reprogramming document. “This request funds the launch of this [fifth] plane of SVs in early FY 2026 and addresses the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) requirement to fund at least two years in advance to avoid additional costs or potential delays if funded within the 24-month window to launch. This is a congressional special interest item.”
L3Harris [LHX] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] are the contractors for the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer (Defense Daily, Jan. 23).
The Department of the Air Force’s requested $731 million increase for O&M in fiscal 2023 includes $150 million “to support INDOPACOM emergent rotational taskings in FY 2023,” according to the reprogramming document. “This requirement is a new unplanned effort that was not identified during the programming process. This is a must fund requirement directed by the SECDEF to maintain a dynamic force in the INDOPACOM theater. These funds will support rotational forces from three major commands into the INDOPACOM Area of Responsibility. The funds will source aircraft beddown, travel costs, airlift of personnel & equipment, and operational support. This emergent requirement was not included in the FY 2023 or FY 2024 Unfunded Priority List (UPL). The details of this effort are classified and can be made available upon request.”
The DoD reprogramming request asks to move nearly $22 million from the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM) program and more than $17 million in KC-46A Pegasus communications to higher priority areas.
The requested redirection in HACM funds comes “because they are early to need…due to a late FY 2022 contract award driven by delays with the Middle Tier Acquisition Phase II contract source selection process,” according to the reprogramming document. “This requires a re-phasing of the program, which will be addressed in a future budget submission.”
RTX [RTX] is the HACM contractor.
Regarding the KC-46A $17 million requested redirection, “funds are available because they are early to need due to contract award delay within FY 2023 for the KC-46A Pegasus Advanced Communications Suite program,” according to the reprogramming document. “The contract did not award until March 2023. The schedule delay was driven by prolonged negotiations regarding data rights. The re-phase of funding will be addressed in a future budget submission.”
Boeing [BA] builds the KC-46A Pegasus tanker.