Here are seven programs at the Pentagon facing disruption by the use of continuing resolutions, based on a Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments study by Blakeley and Maureen Smolskis:
1. AGM-114 Hellfire. The Army and Navy intend to purchase more of these air-to-ground missiles for use against ISIS while the Air Force wants less, but the continuing resolution is preventing the three branches from shifting funds to adjust to their specific needs. The Air Force will be required to spend $698 million on Hellfire acquisition in fiscal 2017, about 300 percent more than the amount it originally requested, while the Army will get significantly less than it wants next year.
2. KC-46A Pegasus. The continuing resolution will cap the number of these new tanker aircraft the Air Force can purchase in fiscal 2017 at 12, instead of the 15 that were originally requested. That means that the Air Force will have to rely for a longer period of time on older, less capable tanker aircraft for mid-air refueling.
3. Ohio Replacement Program/Columbia Class SSBN. The Navy is concerned that the continuing resolution will slow its schedule for replacing the aging Ohio-class nuclear submarines with the new Columbia-class submarines. Any further budget delays could hold up delivery of all dozen planned Columbia-class submarines beginning in the late 2020s.
4. CH-53K King Stallion. The Marine Corps plans to replace its ancient CH-53E heavy lift helicopters with this new model with twice the capacity, but is experiencing “gaps in airlifts” because of a shortage of the new choppers, which were supposed to start coming on line in 2017. Further delays to the CH-53K will force the Marines to continue to rely on the older helicopters for a longer period of time.
5. Carrier Replacement Program. The Pentagon is pressing for construction of additional Ford-class aircraft carriers to replace the aging Nimitz-class carriers. The Navy needs at least eleven of them in the coming years and anything less could cause gaps in coverage in the Middle East and Pacific if the carriers must rotate home more frequently for maintenance.
6. E-2D Hawkeye. This airborne early warning aircraft is the “eyes and ears” of the carrier strike group and can detect long-distance threats like enemy missiles, ships and aircraft. The Navy requested $1.52 billion for fiscal 2017 to procure six of these aircraft, or one more than the year before. Any interruption in the acquisition of these planes could put the military at a disadvantage in detecting enemy attacks.
7. F-35B Lightning II STOVL Aircraft. This versatile aircraft is being jointly developed by the Navy and Marines as an eventual replacement for the F/A-18 Hornet. The goal is to have two F-35B squadrons ready for deployment in 2018. The good news for the Navy is that it will receive $171 million more than it requested for fiscal 2017, or $3.3 billion. The bad news is that the mix of research, development and testing and procurement funding is not what the Marines wanted.