The Obama Administration seeks a baseline budget of $119.6 billion for the Air Force in Fiscal 2011, plus $20.8 billion to fund the service’s share of fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This $140.4 billion request represents two percent real growth over the enacted appropriations for Air Force-specific activities in this fiscal year, said USAF budget officials. Some 63 percent of the baseline request covers the service’s day-to-day operations ($45.8 billion for operations and maintenance and $29.3 billion for military personnel), while 20 percent ($24.2 billion) goes towards procurement, 15 percent ($18.2 billion) for research and development, and two percent ($2.2 billion) for military construction. The combined baseline/war spending proposal seeks 97 manned and 52 unmanned aircraft. The baseline request buys two satellites and supports development of the KC-X tanker, new utility helicopter, and future long-range strike capabilities. It supports an active duty force of 332,200. Continue
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.