May 28—Military spending on research and future weapons will be emphasized in 2022, an approach that may yield dividends for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the beating heart of Air Force research and logistics missions.
The budget request seeks what the Pentagon calls the "largest ever RDT&E (Research Development Test & Evaluation) request" of $112 billion.
Also sought in the 2022 budget: $14.7 billion for science and technology, $2.3 billion for microelectronics; $874 million for work in artificial intelligence and just under $400 million for increased 5G capabilities.
Requested for 85 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is $12 billion, with $2.5 billion sought for 14 KC-46 tanker replacements; $1.7 billion sought for 9 CH-53K King Stallion cargo helicopters; $1.5 billion for 12 F-15EX fighters and $825 million for 30 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters.
And according to the administration's budget request, the Air Force would be slated to divest itself of the A-10, the F-15 C/D, F-16 C/D, KC-135, KC-10, C-130H, E-8, RQ-4 block 20 and 30.
For "Air Force readiness," $36.5 billion is requested.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense Thursday on the fiscal year 2022 budget request.
The budget "invests in hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, micro-electronics, 5G technology, cyber-capabilities, ship-building, climate-change resilience and nuclear modernization to name a few," Austin told the committee. "And it gives us the flexibility to divest ourselves of systems and platforms that do not adequately meet our needs, including older ships, aircraft and ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) platforms that demand more maintenance and upkeep and risk than we can afford."
However, experienced budget observers say it's too soon to know how all of this might affect Wright-Patterson.
"It's good that Secretary Austin is talking about some of the skill areas of Wright-Patterson and the Air Force Research Laboratory," said Michael Gessel, vice president, federal government programs for the Dayton Development Coalition. "And it's a good sign that he recognizes the importance of RDT&E particularly in the fight against China and our peer and near-peer adversaries."
But we don't yet have a "solid read" on how Wright-Patterson will fare in the budget, he added.
"While it's too soon to draw conclusions and we expect the defense budget to fall short in many areas, I'm encouraged that the Biden administration recognizes the critical role that research plays for our Air Force," said U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
"Increased investment in research and development is vital for the U.S. to maintain a strategic advantage over our adversaries. I'm hopeful that this investment will serve to bolster the important work that takes place at WPAFB, which is home to Air Force Research Lab (AFRL), Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center," Turner added.
AFRL is building the Air Force's planes and weapons of the future, including hypersonic weapons. It is also the home to the Air Force Materiel Command, which oversees the Air Force's massive logistics needs.
The new budget requests a 2.7-percent pay raise and an extra $200 million in family support programs, according to fiscal 2022 numbers released Friday.
"I believe our budget request will help us match our resources to strategy, strategy to policy and policy to the will of the American people," the secretary said.
The president's budget draft proposes $715 billion for defense, an $11 billion increase from the previous year's spending level.
Biden's $6 trillion budget proposal for would run a $1.8 trillion federal government deficit, the Associated Press reported.
These are early days in the process of crafting a federal budget. Thursday's event was the committee's final hearing before members start writing the 2022 spending bill.
The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1. While Congress is responsible for funding the federal government, in recent years, Congress and presidents have often fallen back on continuing resolutions to set spending levels.
Continuing resolutions can be challenging for the military because defense funds often can be spent only during the fiscal year in which they were appropriated.
The Pentagon has entered every fiscal year between 2010 and 2018 operating under temporary continuing resolutions, the Heritage Foundation has observed.
The "days of continuing resolutions are hopefully behind us for good," Milley said at Thursday's hearing.
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