Pentagon budget trims funding for weapons programs

The Pentagon’s 2015 budget request includes $153.9 billion for new weapons programs, trimming procurement funding as the Pentagon grapples with budget constraints under sequestration.

The 2015 military budget boosted research and development funds, while reducing procurement by $2.1 billion compared to the appropriations enacted in 2014.

{mosads}The Pentagon’s total weapons budget of $153.9 billion is down from the $155.2 billion that was passed last year.

The cuts come from the $90.4 billion in procurement accounts across the military, down from $92.4 billion last year. Research and development spending is up $700 million this year to $63.5 billion.

A number of platforms would be retired in the Pentagon’s budget request.

The Air Force reversed its position on Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk Block 30 drone, which the Pentagon tried to kill the past two years.

After Congress blocked those efforts, the Air Force said this year it will instead retire the Lockheed Martin manned U-2 spy plane in favor of keeping the Global Hawk.

Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale said that last year the operating cost of the Global Hawk came down, tipping the scales in favor of the unmanned drone.

“It was always a close call, and now it comes down in favor of Global Hawk,” Hale said.

The Air Force also plans to retire the fleet of A-10 “Warthog” aircraft, which faces some opposition in Congress and is delaying the Combat Rescue Helicopter program for two years due to budget constraints.

The Army’s budget officially cancels the Ground Combat Vehicle program, and the Army wants to mothball its OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters, replacing them with AH-64 Apaches from the Guard and Reserves.

The Navy is reducing the number of littoral combat ships it plans to procure this year by one to three.

The budget includes $100 million in missile defense funding to develop a new kill vehicle for the ground-based interceptors.

The Pentagon’s budget request largely protects the biggest programs like the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The budget includes $8.3 billion for the F-35 and the procurement of 34 planes.

Defense officials have warned that the Pentagon will face further weapons cancellations and retirements in 2016 if sequestration is not averted. The Pentagon’s five-year budget request includes $115 billion above the spending caps under the sequester beginning in 2016.

Hale said Tuesday that the Navy would be forced to retire the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and a carrier air wing, and the Air Force would have to cut the KC-10 fleet and Global Hawk Block 40 drones. The Air Force would also have fewer Reaper and Predator drones.