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| F-35A Lightning Stealth Fighter |
By: Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON — An update to the US Air Force’s 2017 wish list bumps its unfunded requirements to $10.6 billion, with the service seeking funding for more F-35s and a light attack aircraft experiment, among other new efforts.
Congress has not passed a defense spending bill for 2017, opting instead to extend current funding until April — a tactic that gives the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled legislative branch time to figure out how to direct the budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. The services have responded by enlarging their own unfunded priorities lists to reflect growing demands.
In its first $7.2 billion unfunded priorities list, the Air Force restored funding for five F-35s and eight C-130Js, which had been cut in the fiscal 2017 budget request, Defense News reported in March. The new list, likely updated within the past couple months, doubles the number of F-35As the service would fund if it had money available. It also calls for 11 C-130Js, including two MC-130Js used by special operators and an HC-130J search and rescue variant.
But besides the expected procurement increases, the wish list contains a slew of new line items that reflect emerging priorities, such as $8 million for a light attack aircraft experiment that could precede a future program of record termed OA-X. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein and other top officials have endorsed the flight demo as a way to test whether a buy of inexpensive aircraft can help the force ameliorate readiness challenges and affordably perform missions in permissive environments. Goldfein said in January that no money had been directed toward the experiment, but that the service would like to hold the event as early as this spring.
Read the full story at DefenseNews