Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Post
May 18, 2007
Pg. D3
By Renae Merle, Washington Post Staff Writer
The House yesterday approved a 25 percent cut to next year's budget for an Army modernization program run by Boeing, despite protests from the service and the White House.
Under the defense authorization bill passed yesterday by the House, funding for the Future Combat System, which includes both air and ground manned and unmanned vehicles, would be cut by $867 million, to $2.8 billion, for the year. The Army has said the reduction would hamper the program's progress and might require killing plans for some vehicles.
The authorization bill, which totals $503.8 billion in defense expenditures, passed the House by a 397 to 27 vote but still must be approved by the Senate.
The cut to the Future Combat System is largely seen in the defense industry as the latest sign that years of increased spending on long-term defense projects are being tempered by the more immediate cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army's complicated, expensive program will not be fielded for several years, pitting it against weapons that are available now, supporters of the reductions say. "We looked at systems that were not fully developed and took several dollars and put them toward readiness, including substantial money toward" new mine-resistant vehicles, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. "The administration recommended $400 million for [the vehicles]; we put in $4.1 billion dollars. That is a major step toward readiness."
Army officials have said the reduction in funding would force them to cancel some systems encompassed in the program, and a statement issued by the service said that the cuts would "very likely cripple Army modernization." Congress has already cut more than $825 million from FCS over the past three years, an Army spokesman said.
In a statement released Wednesday, the White House said that it "strongly opposed" the cuts to FCS, asserting that it would "force the Army to retain its Cold War hardware (developed in the 1970s and fielded in the 1980s) well beyond 2040, preventing our soldiers from fielding the best available equipment in the future."
Parts of the program have already been accelerated and deployed, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), whose district is home to a Future Combat System test and evaluation center, said in an interview. "These are not 20 years away, these are things being dispatched almost immediately."
The reduction in funding is the latest hit for the program, which has faced skepticism about its technical feasibility and its management model, in which Chicago-based Boeing runs the operation. And while an independent cost estimate from the Defense Department pegs the multiyear program's cost at between $203 billion and $234 billion, the Army contends it is about $160 billion, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Dan Beck, a Boeing spokesman, said that the company would work to help the military as it strives to "strike the right balance between meeting the vital needs of our war fighters within current budget realities." But, he said, stable funding is critical to the success of any program.
The defense authorization bill includes cuts to other programs and measures that would give Congress more access to information on contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill over an amendment -- also passed by the House yesterday -- that calls for a plan for the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
May 18, 2007
Pg. D3
By Renae Merle, Washington Post Staff Writer
The House yesterday approved a 25 percent cut to next year's budget for an Army modernization program run by Boeing, despite protests from the service and the White House.
Under the defense authorization bill passed yesterday by the House, funding for the Future Combat System, which includes both air and ground manned and unmanned vehicles, would be cut by $867 million, to $2.8 billion, for the year. The Army has said the reduction would hamper the program's progress and might require killing plans for some vehicles.
The authorization bill, which totals $503.8 billion in defense expenditures, passed the House by a 397 to 27 vote but still must be approved by the Senate.
The cut to the Future Combat System is largely seen in the defense industry as the latest sign that years of increased spending on long-term defense projects are being tempered by the more immediate cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army's complicated, expensive program will not be fielded for several years, pitting it against weapons that are available now, supporters of the reductions say. "We looked at systems that were not fully developed and took several dollars and put them toward readiness, including substantial money toward" new mine-resistant vehicles, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. "The administration recommended $400 million for [the vehicles]; we put in $4.1 billion dollars. That is a major step toward readiness."
Army officials have said the reduction in funding would force them to cancel some systems encompassed in the program, and a statement issued by the service said that the cuts would "very likely cripple Army modernization." Congress has already cut more than $825 million from FCS over the past three years, an Army spokesman said.
In a statement released Wednesday, the White House said that it "strongly opposed" the cuts to FCS, asserting that it would "force the Army to retain its Cold War hardware (developed in the 1970s and fielded in the 1980s) well beyond 2040, preventing our soldiers from fielding the best available equipment in the future."
Parts of the program have already been accelerated and deployed, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), whose district is home to a Future Combat System test and evaluation center, said in an interview. "These are not 20 years away, these are things being dispatched almost immediately."
The reduction in funding is the latest hit for the program, which has faced skepticism about its technical feasibility and its management model, in which Chicago-based Boeing runs the operation. And while an independent cost estimate from the Defense Department pegs the multiyear program's cost at between $203 billion and $234 billion, the Army contends it is about $160 billion, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report.
Dan Beck, a Boeing spokesman, said that the company would work to help the military as it strives to "strike the right balance between meeting the vital needs of our war fighters within current budget realities." But, he said, stable funding is critical to the success of any program.
The defense authorization bill includes cuts to other programs and measures that would give Congress more access to information on contractors operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill over an amendment -- also passed by the House yesterday -- that calls for a plan for the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.