Administration moves to terminate some DOD programs

The Obama Administration’s Defense Department fiscal 2010 budget request outlines plans to terminate or substantially alter about 50 major programs, reports John T. Bennett at Defense News.

The DOD requested $663.8 billion from Congress, which is a $533.8 billion baseline budget coupled with an additional $130 billion for current military operations.

Programs scheduled for termination include the C-17 airlifter, Combat Search and Rescue Helicopter, F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft, Future Combat Systems manned ground vehicles, and Joint Strike Fighter's alternate engine, writes Gregg Carlstrom at Defense News.

Other program terminations are Multiple Kill vehicle program, Presidential Helicopter, and Transformational Satellite program. Some funding is provided for these programs to either find alternatives, shut down production, or similar efforts.

If the full amount is funded by Congress, the 2010 budget would be a 4 percent increase over the 2009 budget of $513 billion, writes Greg Grant at DOD Buzz. The proposal shifts into the base budget a number of key expenses, such as security assistance to foreign governments and various aerial sensor and intelligence programs, previously paid for by supplemental spending actions, he notes.

The acquisition portion of the proposed budget, where research and development and procurement expenses reside, seems to be the only real place for cost savings, Grant writes. The administration’s plans to shift supplemental expenses into the base budget will likely exacerbate the cost-cutting pressure on acquisition.

More than a half dozen documents related to the DOD’s fiscal 2010 budget request are available on the Defenselink.mil Web site.