The Army and Navy have prioritized aircraft modernization and procurement in their wish list of resources not covered by the Obama administration’s budget request, according to reports.
The Navy is asking Congress for 14 more F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet strike fighters as its top priority not funded by the fiscal 2017 budget request, Defense News reported. Two more F-35Cs also were near the top of the service’s unfunded priorities list.
The annual wish list to Congress ranks each service’s top priorities not funded in the president’s budget. Lawmakers then decide how they will handle the requests.
The practice of the Pentagon giving Congress a wish list slowed and eventually halted because of objections by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates that services were going above his head and competing against each other to lobby Congress for extra cash. But Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel brought the list back in 2014 at lawmakers’ urging.
The Navy’s top three requests are the 14 additional F/A-18E/Fs at a cost of $1.54 billion, the remaining $433 million for a destroyer partially funded in fiscal 2016 and $270 million for two more F-35Cs.
The Army’s wish list, also reported by Defense News, totals more than $7.4 billion and focuses on aviation procurement and modernization, as well as additional training and construction.
The service requested an additional almost $800 million for modernization and procurement, including five more AH-64 Apache helos, 17 more LUH-72 Lakota light utility helicopters and 24 UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters.
The Army also asked for $1.35 billion to increase home station training and flying hours to rebuild readiness that has taken a hit under past budgets.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told the Washington Examiner that he wanted to see services prioritize nuclear weapons in their unfunded priorities lists, an area he sees as underfunded and critical to the nation’s defense.
“There is no issue more fundamental for the safety and security of the American people than our nuclear forces, and it is imperative we fund modernization of the stockpile and develop capabilities that are sufficient to defeat emerging threats,” Cotton said in a statement.
Some of the cuts he is most concerned about include a $90 million reduction in funding for the long-range stand off weapon, a cut in research and development for the nation’s next bomber, and billions in cuts to the nation’s nuclear enterprise, according to a staff member in Cotton’s office.
