Air Force needs Russian rockets for three more years

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James made the case to Congress that the service must have access to 18 Russian-made RD-180 engines over the next few years to assure the service can launch satellites, maintain competition in defense industry and get the best deal for the American taxpayer.

“Assured access to space means that it’s absolutely critical for us to have at least two separate pathways,” she said at a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing on the fiscal 2017 budget request released Tuesday. “If you’re reduced to one single way, that’s equivalent to putting all your eggs in one basket. If something goes wrong, you can be shut down for months or even years.”

The U.S. Air Force can send satellites into space through two private companies: United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and SpaceX, headed by Elon Musk. While SpaceX has its own American-made engine to use for national security launches, ULA still relies on the Russian-made RD-180 engine.

When Russian-backed separatists invaded Crimea almost two years ago, American officials decided it was time for the U.S. military to end its reliance on Russia for access to space. Congress passed legislation requiring the Air Force to develop a replacement and stop using the Russian engines.

But last year’s omnibus included language that gave the Air Force more flexibility to continue using the RD-180 engines.

James said the Air Force is “moving as quickly as we can” to end use of the Russian engines, but she worries prematurely banning their use could leave the U.S. with a gap in capability.

The fiscal 2017 budget proposal released Tuesday requests more than $1 billion to develop a replacement rocket engine over the next five years, according to reports.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welch stressed that assured access to space touches every aspect of today’s military from precision weapons to encrypted communications.

“From a warfighter’s perspective, the idea of doing anything that we do in the U.S. military anywhere on Earth without assets we have in space is a nonstarter,” he said, responding to a question from Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and a supporter of allowing ULA, which is based in his home state, to continue to use Russian rockets for national security space launches.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and a vocal critic of America’s reliance on Russia, tweeted out a series of myths and facts about the U.S. using the RD-180 engines during the hearing.

He said the annual defense policy bill provided for the use of nine Russian-made rockets, what he says is more than enough to meet the country’s national security needs.

“MYTH: Defense appropriators claim we need more #Russian rockets to create bridge btw now & 2022 when US rocket engine becomes available,” McCain said on Twitter.