Appropriation Committee’s Major Changes to Administration’s Supplemental Request

The House Appropriations Committee made a number of major changes to the weapon systems included in President Obama’s war supplemental request. After the jump is a short description of the largest military system changes within the Pentagon's $84.5 billion section of the bill, along with a table detailing all the major modifications.

Ah-64 Apache Modifications: The committee recommended the modification of 24 Army National Guard AH-64 helicopters to the AH-64D variation. As the A variant is considered un-deployable, the committee decided that the upgraded aircraft would increase Army assets.

C-17A: Despite the Pentagon’s assurance that they do not need to procure more than the 205 C-17 transport aircraft they have already acquired, the committee included $2.2 billion for 8 additional aircraft.

C-130: The committee added funding for 11 C-130 transport aircraft.

C-5 & C-17A: A number of programs were modified because of the Pentagon’s inability to complete aircraft modifications on schedule. Modifications to C-5 and C-17A defensive systems were cut by $45 million and $230 million, respectively, because the Air Force was unable to instill these systems on schedule.

National Guard and Reserve Equipment: The committee recommended $500 million for National Guard and reserve equipment. Because the Guard and reserve “…traditionally receive less than a proportionate share of funding to resource the[ir] equipment,” these funds will be used to procure “high value” equipment for combat and missions to support their state governors.

MRAP: The committee recommended $4.8 billion for the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle Fund (MRAP). This is more than $2.1 billion above the administration’s request.

MAJOR SYSTEM MODIFICATIONS

All #s in Thousands of $ (,000)	Obama Request	Committee	Difference	% Change
CH-47 Helicopter	120,000	210,000	90,000	75.0%
AH-64 (MOD)	354,360	787,060	432,700	122.1%
Stryker Vehicle	112,734	451,134	338,400	300.2%
Bradley Program (MOD)	541,000	784,600	243,600	45.0%
Sincgars-Ground	100,000	0	-100,000	-100.0%
Tactical Unmanned Aerial Sys	236,780	316,780	80,000	33.8%
Rough Terrain Container Handler	20,200	40,200	20,000	99.0%
UH-1Y/AH-IZ	102,400	277,400	175,000	170.9%
P-3 Series	0	100,000	100,000	n/a
Special Program Aircraft	84,645	0	-84,645	-100.0%
Common Ground Equipment	78,000	0	-78,000	-100.0%
Marine Corps Tactical Unmanned Aerial Syst (moved to Army)	65,937	0	-65,937	-100.0%
MATCALS (Marine Air Traffic Control and Landing System)	59,243	0	-59,243	-100.0%
Common Imagery Ground Surface Syst	24,518	0	-24,518	-100.0%
Common Computer Resources	58,903	42,703	-16,200	-27.5%
Physical Security Equip - part of program already complete	160,070	47,870	-112,200	-70.1%
C-17A (8 Aircraft)	0	2,245,200	2,245,200	n/a
C-130	0	904,200	904,200	n/a
MQ-9 UAV	195,858	305,858	110,000	56.2%
C-5 (Mods)	104,800	59,800	-45,000	-42.9%
C-17A (Mods)	230,200	0	-230,200	-100.0%
C-12	89,000	111,500	22,500	25.3%
C-130 (Mods)	189,910	118,410	-71,500	-37.6%
RQ-4 UAV (Mods)	32,000	0	-32,000	-100.0%
MQ-9 (Mods)	114,700	32,700	-82,000	-71.5%
Base Info Infrastructure	20,000	0	-20,000	-100.0%
National Guard & Reserve Equipment Fund	0	500,000	500,000	n/a

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[The Week That Was: May 11-15 &]

[...] 11th conflicts will near $1 trillion. Additionally, the House Appropriations Committee modified a number of DOD supplemental procurement priorities. Before it passed the House on a 338-60 vote, [...]