In its markup of the 2010 defense spending bill, the Hou
se Appropriations defense panel, led by Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) not only identified dollars to fund 12 additional F-22 Raptors (see Fueling the F-22 Debate Flames), but also money to continue development of the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136 alternate engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The Pentagon has tried unsuccessfully to kill the alternate engine for several years. Murtha’s panel approved a total of $636.3 billion, a decrease of about $3.8 from the Administration request. Among its other provisions, the panel calls for three additional C-17s—lawmakers already had added eight C-17s in the just passed 2009 war supplemental bill—despite the call by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to end production at 205 of the new airlifters. Perhaps seeing the handwriting on the wall as lawmakers lined up in protest over the Pentagon’s C-17 plan, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz maintains that if Congress adds C-17s then USAF must retire more of its C-5s to keep the strategic airlift balance at a total 316 tails.
In written testimony to the Senate, the nominee to oversee the Air Force’s installations and energy enterprise endorsed the continued privatization of military housing and called for the department to think more during the acquisition process about how it will power new weapons systems when the logistics supply chain is…
