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Air Force Chief Michael Moseley told CongressDaily that over-budget programs and ones far behind schedule could find themselves at risk not just from Congress, but also from his own office.
“I don’t believe Congress will be sending unsolicited pots of gold to the Department of Defense,” Moseley said in reference to the notion that the Air Force would be able to replace its aging F-15s on a one-for-one basis with the F/A-22.
Programs facing the biggest delays in the Air Force include the Global Broadcast Service, the National Airspace System and the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. On the other hand, programs with unexpectedly early field successes are winning the other sort of attention. Said Moseley, “This UAV business is powerful.”
The Air Force’s research and development budget is one of the significant differences between House and Senate’s differing defense appropriations bills for 2006. The Senate cut development by three quarters of a billion dollars, while the House raised it slightly.