COVER STORY
For more military aviation coverage, visit our dedicated news channel: flightglobal.com/defence
BUDGET JON HEMMERDINGER WASHINGTON DC
Hagel spending plan ushers in a new era for US military
The Pentagon can save an estimated $3.5 billion over five years by retiring the entire A-10 fleet
Defense secretary’s proposal axes ageing types in favour of drive for modernisation he future of US military air power is coming into focus. After months of speculation, on 24 February the Department of Defense outlined a plan to ground some of its oldest aircraft in the coming years. On the chopping block are the US Air Force’s Fairchild Republic A-10 ground attack and Lockheed U-2 surveillance aircraft, and the army’s Bell Helicopter OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed scouts. The DoD also intends to bolster the army’s fleet of Boeing AH-64D/E Apache attack helicopters with aircraft from reserve units, and may slow the procurement of 24 Lockheed Martin F-35s through fiscal year 2019. Outlined by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the proposal is part of a broad contraction of the US military driven partly by budget cuts, which he describes as “irresponsible”. It also stems from an effort to modernise the nation’s armed forces and prepare for emerging threats in areas like the Asia-Pacific, he adds. “This plan balances the need to protect our national security with the need to be realistic about future budget levels,” Hagel says. Despite the sweeping nature of the cuts, which still must be approved by Congress, defence analysts are unsurprised. “They are prioritising the new over the old, which is the story of
Rex Features
T
“This plan balances the need to protect our national security with the need to be realistic about future budget levels” CHUCK HAGEL US Secretary of Defense
the Pentagon for the past 100 years,” says Richard Aboulafia, vice-president of consulting firm Teal Group. The Pentagon has been forced to make the cuts by ongoing funding pressures set in motion by the Budget Control Act of 2011, signed by President Barack Obama. That law shaved $487 billion from the DoD’s budget over 10 years. It also triggered additional spending cuts known as the sequester, which will run through 2021. Sequestration reduced military spending by $37 billion for the
PROPOSED FLEET CHANGES FROM FY2015 Service
USAF
Type
A-10 F-35A Global Hawk Block 40 KC-10 U-2 US Army AH-64D/E OH-58D TH-67 UH-60 US Navy F-35C
Action
Retirement Deferral of 24 aircraft Potential retirement Potential retirement Retirement Transfer of Guard/Reserve aircraft Retirement Retirement Transfer of some aircraft to Guard Possible two-year procurement delay
Fleet data from Flightglobal’s Ascend Online Fleets and MiliCAS databases
10 | Flight International | 4-10 March 2014
Fleet size
315 N/A N/A 59 32 722 659 179 1,937 N/A
last fiscal year and by $31 billion in this year’s allocation. A $45 billion cut is expected in FY2015, and will continue increasing without Congressional action. The Pentagon’s budget is $496 billion in FY2014 and FY2015. This is roughly 21% less than in FY2010, according to Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute. More details are expected when President Obama releases his FY2015 budget proposal on 4 March. Then the bill will head to Congress. “That’s where things get complicated,” says Aboulafia. “You’ll have the age-old battle between Congress and the US Air Force.”
EMPHASISING CAPABILITIES Most contentious may be the Congressionally-popular A-10, which the USAF has been seeking to retire for years. While past such attempts may have been premature, Aboulafia says: “this time [the USAF] might be right. There aren’t a lot of large tankbased armies emerging as a threat in the next five or 10 years.” Hagel says the plan will “emphasise capability over capacity” and protect “key critical modernisation programmes”. These include Lockheed’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the $100 billion-plus long-range strike bomber programme and the KC-46A refuelling tanker, which Boeing expects to begin delivering to the USAF in 2016. The DoD also recommends investing $1 billion in next-generation jet engine technology. Older programmes will suffer, however. Hagel says the Pentagon can save $3.5 billion over five years by retiring the entire A-10 fleet and using the “more capable” F-35 for close air support in the early 2020s. “Precision-guided munitions are carried by about every combat aircraft. It makes sense to divest a platform that can only do one
mission,” Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says of the A-10. Hagel also settled speculation about the USAF’s plans for highaltitude reconnaissance, announcing that the DoD intends to retire its in-service U-2s. This contrasts with the air force’s earlier intention, stated last year, to instead divest its Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawks, which it said were more costly than the manned type to operate. “Over the last several years, [the] DoD has been able to reduce the Global Hawk’s operating costs,” Hagel says. “It’s a sign [the] DoD is serious about development of an unmanned force in the future,” Gunzinger says. “This is the first time an unmanned aircraft has completely replaced a manned aircraft.” Meanwhile, the Pentagon intends to slow the growth of its armed unmanned air system fleet to 55 “orbits” of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1 Predators and MQ-9 Reapers – down from a planned 65. The USAF will continue buying the “more capable” latter type until it has an all-Reaper fleet, Hagel says. The DoD also plans to retire the army’s Kiowa Warriors and Bell TH-67 Creek trainers, cutting the service’s fleet by 25%, Hagel says. flightglobal.com