Daily Report

The Air Force has requested $110.1 billion in its USAF-specific baseline budget proposal for Fiscal 2013 and another $14.3 billion in overseas contingency funds, according to service budget officials. When factoring the additional $29.9 billion that falls under Air Force...

The Pentagon crafted its $614 billion budget proposal for Fiscal 2013 at a time when there is a considerable change in the US military's overall direction, said senior defense officials on Monday. The Budget Control Act—mandating steep military spending cuts—is now law, the United States has withdrawn from Iraq, and US involvement in Afghanistan is phasing down, said Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale. In order to reach the BCA's mandated $259 billion in savings over the next five fiscal years, nearly everything under DOD's ownership was "on the table," said Lt. Gen. Larry Spencer, head of the Joint Staff's office of force structure. Among the major changes, the Pentagon is resizing it ground forces to reflect the de-emphasis on prolonged contingency operations requiring a large footprint, said both officials. With about 130,000 personnel coming out of the force structure between Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2017, DOD stands to realize about $50 billion in savings, said Hale. It will rebalance and protect key capabilities such as cyber warfare, special operations forces, and intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets, said Spencer. The future force will be lean, networked, and technologically advanced, he said. (Hale-Spencer transcript) (DOD Fiscal 2013 budget request overview; caution, large-sized file.)

Modernization accounts will see a vast reduction in the Fiscal 2013-2017 future years defense program laid out by Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale on Monday. In Fiscal 2013, defense officials reduced modernization by $18 billion versus last year’s forecast, and from...

The nuclear triad escapes relatively unscathed in the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2013 budget request. “I believe we have full support for the triad in this budget,” said Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale on Monday while briefing reporters on the new spending...

The F-35 strike fighter program will suffer a $15.1 billion reduction over the newly released future years defense program. Defense Department Comptroller Robert Hale confirmed during the rollout of the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2013 spending request on Monday that DOD will...

The Pentagon is requesting a total of $19.2 billion for its classified and unclassified intell igence activities in Fiscal 2013, announced defense officials on Monday. This total includes activities covered in DOD’s base budget as well as its overseas contingency...

Military pay, which has risen at well over inflation since 2001, will slow under the new austerity defense budget submitted to Congress on Monday. After proposed raises of 1.7 percent in Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2014—consistent with government-figured inflation—raises will...

The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2013 budget proposal sees a shift in the funding priorities for the Air Force’s MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft program, with the service reducing its planned MQ-9 Reaper purchase, while investing more in training. Briefing reporters on...

Adm. Samuel Locklear, speaking at his confirmation hearing to head US Pacific Command, noted that the US relationship with China is broad and one that is "cooperative, but competitive." The United States is an Asian power today, he noted, as well as a global power. "We have interests in that part of the world. And I believe that the Chinese . . . need to recognize that we do have US national interests there and we have the interests of strong allies there," he said during his Feb. 9 testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. As far as military-to-military ties with the People's Liberation Army, Locklear believes it's important that the United States continues pursuit of "productive" relationships in this area. "That's so we can gain greater clarity and greater transparency as . . . the region evolves," he said. The United States seeks a secure, stable environment for its allies and partners as well as China so that the region may grow and prosper, added Locklear. (Locklear's responses to advance questions.) (For more from Locklear, read Modernized Tacair Critical to Forward Presence and Establishing Rule of Law Critical to South China Sea.)

The first factory-fresh C-130J Super Hercules assigned to the 39th Airlift Squadron arrived at Dyess AFB, Tex., guided down by Maj. Gen. Rick Martin, Air Mobility Command’s operations director, announced aircraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin. “The pride and professionalism of the...

Technicians at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee successfully fired a second-stage Minuteman III rocket motor that came from the motor’s final production batch. “It’s the last of the production runs, so it’s a significant test,” said Denny Elston,...

The A-10 Thunderbolt II, QF-4 Phantom, F-16 Falcon, and F-22 Raptor will fly the airshow circuit in close formation with World War II aircraft again this summer. The Air Combat Command Heritage Flight will perform with warbirds, including the A-36...