Daily Report

Oct. 11, 2012

House Democrats Warn of Sequestration’s Consequences

If budget sequestration is allowed to take effect in January, funding for the F-35 strike fighter program would be cut by $1 billion in Fiscal 2013, according to a new report issued by the House Appropriations Committee's Democrats. This would force the Defense Department to cut four F-35s from the planned production buy for the fiscal year and would reduce advance procurement, thereby placing at risk the ramp-up of aircraft production in later years, states the "Dear Colleague" report, released on Oct. 9. The report does not note which service would lose the four F-35s in the Fiscal 2013 production lot. Sequestration would also reduce funding for the Air Force's KC-X tanker program by $99.5 million and "potentially slow" the current engineering and manufacturing development contract, states the report. The Air Force's future bomber program would also take a $33.7 million hit, it states. Sequestration could also disrupt military space launches as DOD would have to eliminate one evolved expendable launch vehicle from its planned buy, states the report, which HAC Ranking Member Rep. Norm Dicks (Wash.) signed. (Dear Colleague report; caution, large-sized file.) (See also report highlights and Not a Pretty Picture.)

US Military Task Force Dispatched to Jordan

The Defense Department has sent a task force of roughly 150 military advisors to Jordan to assist Jordanian forces in dealing with an influx of Syrian refugees into their country, reported The Hill newspaper. The task force also is intended...

Upwood Clinic Closing

The Defense Department is closing the Air Force clinic at RAF Upwood, England, and plans to return it to the British government late this year, announced Pentagon officials on Oct. 10. This move is part of DOD’s efforts to divest...

Maryland Air Guard Starts Headquarters Construction

The Maryland Air National Guard broke ground on a new $11.8 million headquarters building for the 175th Wing at Warfield ANG Base in Middle River, northeast of Baltimore. The new facility will consolidate personnel from the wing staff, mission support...

BAE Systems-EADS Merger Talks Terminated

The potential merger of BAE Systems and EADS is now dead after the companies announced on Oct. 10 they’ve ended their discussions. “BAE Systems and EADS believe that the merger was based on a sound industrial logic” and “would have...

Meeting Airlift’s Finest Generation

Veterans of the 437th Troop Carrier Group that flew C-47 transports in Europe during World War II recently gathered for a reunion at JB Charleston, S.C. The unit—the predecessor of Charleston’s 437th Operations Group—inserted troops into Normandy, France, in June...