DOD Cancellation Decisions Imminent
By David A. Fulghum 
Word on upcoming U.S. defense program terminations is expected late this week or early next week in the form of program budget decisions or program decision memorandums, according to an official with insight into major U.S. Air Force programs.
“The final budget goes to [Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ office] on April 2nd and then it’s released on the 21st,” the official said.
Gates’ office agrees on the time line. “I think the fact the secretary is not traveling to the NATO summit in Strasbourg is a sign of how long he expects the process to be going on — at least through the 3rd or 4th of April,” Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says. “We’re going to be hard at work at least through those dates. There are dozens of decisions that have to be made. [Gates] does not anticipate making [those] decisions until the very end of this process.”
But there are clues. Plans for a new U.S. Air Force tanker and the latest version of a future bomber to supplement the stealthy B-2 force are still being financially well supported in negotiations over the 2010 defense budget. But the opinion of senior civilian acquisition officials is that no other big-ticket earmarks will be tolerated.
Three Air Force programs mentioned as likely victims of cost cutting are additional C-17 production, funding of the last 40 F-22 Raptors (numbers 204-243) and the F-35’s Alternative Fighter Engine, says a longtime Air Force acquisition official.
The new stealth bomber design now has a nuclear mission requirement that could produce a cost rise and schedule slip beyond 2018, but the program still has strong support, he says.
Two civilian acquisition and program specialists say that despite periodic rumors of an end to F-22 stealth fighter production, the program is still expected to produce at least 20 more aircraft — numbers 184-203 — and further production will be decided during the Quadrennial Defense Review which is expected to report out sometime this summer.
New stealthy signature reduction plans for the F-15 could also be reflected in new, stealthier versions of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet for the Navy’s carrier-based units.
The F-35, despite some new worries about heat buildup in the aircraft in some situations, will be supported vigorously in the 2010 budget. The F-35 heating issues were driven by excess heat generated by flight control actuators which are not normally cooled by the heat exchanger, Air Force officials say.
A joint tanker buy is still seen by some as the only way out of the bureaucratic tangle that awarded and rescinded the program at different times to both Boeing and Northrop Grumman. A longtime acquisition specialist says the second program award is doubly tainted since in the aftermath of the Northrop Grumman victory the proprietary interworkings and pricing schemes of both programs were revealed. However, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley tells Pentagon acquisition officials that he still wants to start another tanker program with new requirements.
Photo: Wikipedia
