The Defense Department’s $582.7 billion budget request for Fiscal 2017, attempts to balance the threats of near-peer countries with the continued battle against terrorism. The total request, which includes $58.8 billion in war-time funding, calls for a 1.6 percent pay...
The Pentagon is increasing its reliance on war-time funding to not only fully cover the costs of the wars in Afghanistan and against ISIS, but also to pay for some programs that “admittedly” shouldn’t be covered by the overseas contingency...
The Defense Department had to cut $17 billion from its top line budget—a requirement under the two-year bipartisan budget deal reached late last year—by chopping $11.2 billion from programs and by finding savings through inflation, lower fuel costs, and new...
The Air Force’s Fiscal 2017 baseline “blue budget” request of $120.4 billion continues the long climb back to what the service calls “full spectrum readiness,” which won’t be achieved “for eight to 10 years,” USAF budget director Maj. Gen. James...
The Fiscal 2016 budget started the recovery the Air Force needs and the Fiscal 2017 budget builds on those efforts, Maj. Gen. James Martin told reporters Tuesday. In 2012, the Air Force estimated it would need $137 billion in Fiscal...
To offset heavy use of “preferred” munitions in anti-ISIS operations in Iraq and Syria, the Air Force is making a big push to restock in the Fiscal 2017 budget. The request asks for very large quantities of munitions in both...
The Air Force’s F-35 fleet took the “biggest reduction” among programs that were raided to find $17 billion in cuts during the last weeks of the Fiscal 2017 budget build, Pentagon Comptroller Mike McCord said at a press briefing today....
The Air Force hasn’t backed off its goal of buying 1,763 F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, but it will take longer to buy them, Carolyn Gleason, deputy USAF budget director, told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday. Gleason said the Air Force...
The Air Force has an “affordable strategy” with regard to the recapitalization program for the E-8 JSTARS fleet, but it doesn’t have new numbers yet, deputy USAF budget director Carolyn Gleason said Tuesday. “The program’s had some struggles and we’ve...
The Pentagon is looking to increase the joint effort to cover intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance while the Air Force tries to rebuild its beleaguered remotely piloted aircraft community. The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2017 budget continues the build up to 90 combat...
The Air Force’s Fiscal 2017 budget places an emphasis on training as the service looks to grow the force and fill key capability gaps, Maj. Gen. James Martin, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for budget, told reporters...
The Air Force’s major programs for Fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation collectively see a $2.3 billion boost over the enacted 2016 budget. Science and technology accounts remain flat at about $2.5 billion, but several programs increased sharply. The...
The Air Force will increase its investment in previously deferred military construction projects in Fiscal 2017, Maj. Gen. James Martin told reporters Tuesday in a Pentagon briefing. USAF has proposed $380 million for F-35A, KC-46, and Combat Rescue Helicopter beddowns;...
Maj. Gen. James? Martin is OK after collapsing at the podium during the Air Force budget brief Tuesday, officials said. Martin, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for budget, had been briefing for about 35 minutes Tuesday afternoon...
The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2017 budget request may be heading down a rough path to approval, with key lawmakers immediately expressing opposition upon its release Tuesday. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a statement said the request...
Four F-35A Lightning IIs deployed to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, on Monday to assess the strike fighter’s ability to operate away from home station, officials announced. The operational readiness assessment is part of the Air Force’s ongoing effort to judge...
The 8th Fighter Wing at Kunsan AB, South Korea, conducted a no-notice combat readiness exercise to test the base’s ability to defend the peninsula at a moment’s notice last week. “We conduct multiple operational readiness exercises every year to hone...
A trio of Hawaii Air National Guard KC-135 tankers recently deployed from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to Al Udeid AB, Qatar, to support coalition aircraft engaged in Operation Inherent Resolve. More than 50 pilots, maintainers, and support personnel from the...
