A plan in the House to force the Air Force to spend $6.5 billion to replace a surveillance plane is shaping up to be a top issue for the service in the 2019 defense budget.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson on Thursday told Senate appropriators that the service abandoned the program because a new generation of Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft, or JSTARS, could be easily shot down by Russia or Chinese air defenses.
“As we move forward in finalizing this year’s budget, I would ask for your thoughtful consideration of this particular issue, which is one of the ones that is important for the future of the Air Force and our national defense,” Wilson told the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The House Armed Services Committee rejected the Air Force argument this month and included $623 million in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act to begin replacing the current fleet of 17 JSTARS E-8C aircraft, which were made by Northrop Grumman.
The total cost to replace the aircraft in the coming years is estimated at $6.5 billion.
“Russian and Chinese surface-to-air missiles have more range and the plane would be shot down in that first day of conflict,” Wilson said.
The Air Force wants instead to move toward technology that can fuse data from space as well as manned and unmanned platforms so it can protect Army forces on the battlefield, she said.
“The question rises, could we do both? Could we recapitalize JSTARS and also build an advanced battle management system that could operate in a contested environment?” Wilson told the senators. “Yes, we could do both, and it costs about $7 billion more than what we’ve proposed in our budget.”
The House is moving toward a vote on its version of the NDAA bill and was collecting proposed amendments this week.
The future of JSTARS will depend on what both chambers eventually decide to authorize and fund. The Senate Appropriations Committee is wrapping up its hearings on an annual defense spending bill and will mark it up the last week of June. Senate Armed Services is scheduled to markup its NDAA bill next week.
