FY19 budget request

The Air Force budget request for the 2019 Fiscal Year was released today. They are requesting $156.3B, and are looking to add 3 squadrons of aircraft in the next 5 years. That will bring them up to 58 squadrons.

Highlights of the budget request include 48 F-35s, 15 KC-46s, and 1 MC-130J. The request includes $2.3B for R&D on the B-21, an increase over the $2B this year, as well as funding to speed up F-16 upgrades.

www.defensenews.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Following up on the Navy side:

The combat aircraft include nine carrier-variant Lockheed Martin F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters, 20 Marine Corps-variant F-35Bs, 24 Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighters and 25 Bell AH-1Z Viper Marine Corps attack helicopters.

Other aircraft in the request include 10 Boeing P-8A Poseidon anti-submarine warfare aircraft, two KC-130J Marine transport airplanes, and four Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.

According to out-year projections within the budget request, the Navy won’t buy its first four MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicles until FY 2023.

news.usni.org...


RIP MQ-25A? I mean, 2023...really...

Budget needs 60 votes. Forget about it.

a reply to: sligtlyskeptical

They just passed something like $1.4T for the Pentagon over two years. This is simply the allocation phase.

a reply to: anzha

Are you shocked? I sure am.

(Yes, I really did manage to say that with a straight face)

a reply to: Zaphod58

haha.

I wonder what Boeing is thinking after spending the dinero to build the prototype on their own.

a reply to: anzha

With this program? Probably something along the lines of, "Oh. Look. Another. Delay."

Staff-level briefings begin this week for staffers who's members sit on the Approps Committee. This is when the administration walks out agency-level staffers to go over the finer points of the budget request. Should be interesting to hear what DOD and DOE have to say at the program level.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Waiting for the Boeing rage quit a la Northrop.

I wonder if Boeing might offer it to some other branch. Rough field tanker for specops choppers? Probably dumb, but...

Note: There's 9 Cs in there. The Navy is being dragged kicking and screaming into the Lightning fold.

budget

Might as well go to the source documents.

So the Global Hawk lives.

a reply to: anzha

They're getting to the point they have to start their buy. They said they didn't want to buy large numbers until the final software, so they can hit the ground running and hit IOC almost immediately, which is pure BS IMO. But meanwhile the rest of their fleet is wearing out.

Skimming through it, some random observations

- F-35As down from 98 Mil US-$ in FY18 to 88 per aircraft. Unit cost for the KC-46A actually went up slightly, now at 170 Mil per aircraft. Seriously wth Boeing.
- Looks like they also added 29 new MQ-9s, unit cost just 19 Mill US-$. I still maintain they should invest much more in drones at the low end to save cost
- Low rate procurement of LRASM continues for the Air Force with 12 missiles bein procured in 2019
- Hurray for OCO funding which enabled them to sneaked in a whooping two additional AMRAAMs, getting the total up to 222 for FY2019. Nice trolling.
- For the bean counters, the airforce will procure 36000 JDAMs in 2019, mostly due to OCO funding.
- Again nearly 900 Mill US-$ for Air Force classified missile procurement. Wonder what that is. Total classified procurement tops 20 billion in FY2019 for the Air Force
- Total Air Force RDT&E budget at a record high topping 40 billion US-$, including 16 billion US-$ in classified funding.
- Funding for Next Generation Air Dominance (PCA?) got increased to 503 mil US-$ for FY19, up from 294 US-$ in FY18. Something is happening there. Where is PEA?
- LRSO funding was increased to 600 Mil, up from 450 last year. The program is alive and well.
- as reported JSTARS recap is out, Air Force On recap is in
- LRSB got 2.3 billion, up from 2 billion last year

This will make the economy explode. Military spending always does.

originally posted by: gernblan
This will make the economy explode. Military spending always does.

Actually no. Military spending doesn't have much of a multiplier effect.

military multiplier

156 billion dollars... just for this year, just for the air force.

How much has been requested for Veterans benefits this year?

originally posted by: tinner07
156 billion dollars... just for this year, just for the air force.

How much has been requested for Veterans benefits this year?

VA Budget

Keep in mind the VA is completely separate, it's not included in the defense budget.

This would probably be a good time to point out that the usual drivel you hear about the US spends too much on their military compared to other countries is inaccurate. We also have the largest economy in the world. To do a meaningful comparison you have to look at the percentage military spending takes up of the federal budget, or look at it as a percentage of GDP or on a per capita basis. On any of those metrics, the US isn't even the top spender in the world.

Military spending as percent of federal budget: US ranks 4th

Military spending as a percentage of GDP: US ranks 11th

Military spending per capita: US ranks 4th

So next time someone tries to come off like the US spends an inordinate amount on our military compared to other countries, hit them with some truth.

originally posted by: face23785
This would probably be a good time to point out that the usual drivel you hear about the US spends too much on their military compared to other countries is inaccurate. We also have the largest economy in the world. To do a meaningful comparison you have to look at the percentage military spending takes up of the federal budget, or look at it as a percentage of GDP or on a per capita basis. On any of those metrics, the US isn't even the top spender in the world.

Military spending as percent of federal budget: US ranks 4th

Military spending as a percentage of GDP: US ranks 11th

Military spending per capita: US ranks 4th

So next time someone tries to come off like the US spends an inordinate amount on our military compared to other countries, hit them with some truth.

Oh pa-lese. How much money do we need to hold off the Canadians? Mexicans. The US military is a jobs program. For example, does the Navy really protect the US homeland? Hardly. The USAF and US Army can make a decent argument that they are for defense, but the Navy is for offense. You park a Navy off a coast to project power.

I really find the $50 billion we spend in Afghanistan per year a total waste of money. And note since the gloves have been taken off (new rules of engagement), the Taliban has grown in power. They run over 70% of the country.

It pains me to agree with Rand Paul.

I'd prefer to see scale back the military but do a far better job of what we have. The standards for the military were greatly reduced during Gulf War II. Talk to some Gulf War I vets to get a perspective.

a reply to: Zaphod58

The buy isn't until 2023. oy.

Lots of the fleet has problems. The Navy needs to replace a lot of its birds. Needs more sailors. Needs better training.

Did I misread the ship procurement stuff? It sounds like they are accelerating the third Ford. Or am I wrong?

a reply to: mightmight

- Funding for Next Generation Air Dominance (PCA?) got increased to 503 mil US-$ for FY19, up from 294 US-$ in FY18. Something is happening there. Where is PEA?

When did the B-21 hit half a billion in its cycle?