Military AI Works

From AF Daily Report 11 May 09

Ring Around the Rosy: Once again, despite Congress' consistent action supporting an alternate engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, the Pentagon's Fiscal 2010 budget proposal, released May 7, has no funding for a competitive engine. Less than two months ago, Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), chairman of the defense appropriations committee, chastised defense witnesses over the Pentagon's persistent refusal to continue funding the alternate engine being developed by General Electric and Rolls Royce, saying that Congress believes having a second engine would be "cost effective" because of the long production run for the new fighter. Currently, Pratt & Whitney's F135 engine is the sole engine under production for the F-35. Upon news that the Pentagon, once again, has tried to draw a line in the sand, GE issued a statement, "In the long term, the investment in the F136 engine will more than pay for itself—as opposed to a monopoly and all of the cost consequence that come with it." The Pentagon has invested more than $2.5 billion in development of the F136, which GE says is "70 percent of the total development costs needed to bring the engine to production." Various studies have supported the long-term benefits of an engine competition, but the Pentagon insists it would be cost-prohibitive in the short-term. However, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle appear to agree with GE, which said in its statement: "The F136 brings competition to the F-35 propulsion system, which otherwise will result in a decades-long, $100 billion engine monopoly handed to a sole-source provider. ... Competition is the critical cost-control mechanism for defense procurement."

**The AF could have made this an unfunded requirement. That means the AF wants it but could not find funds in their budget process. Congress could then ADD the funds to develop the engine. Standby to see if that happens or Congress provides the money and the AF refuses to spend it on the alternate engine.

From AF Daily Report 11 May 09

Watered Down?: Congress has asked the services for their 2010 unfunded requirements, if any, as has been the tradition for at least the last 10 years. However, on April 30 Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent each service chief and combatant commander a memo—we obtained a copy–admonishing them to run any unfunded priority lists through him before they go to Congress. He wrote, "Should you determine there are FY 2010 unfunded requirements that are responsive to the request from Congress, I expect you to first inform me of such a determination so we can schedule the opportunity for you to brief me on the details." There are varying viewpoints on the value of these unfunded lists—some believe they skew needs toward individual services rather than the joint force, while others believe they have given Congress unfettered insight into military requirements. Certainly, on an Air Force priority list we would expect to see an additional number of F-22s, given that USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz has stated that he believes the US military needs 243 F-22 Raptors, not the 187 the Office of the Secretary of Defense has declared sufficient. Both Schwartz and Air Force Secretary Michael Donley have acknowledged fiscal reality, saying buying more F-22s means doing without something else.