Posted on 02/06/2013 9:47:23 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Budget cuts would reduce flying hours, F-35 orders: Air Force
(Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force will have to curtail its orders for Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet, restructure a $52 billion tanker contract with Boeing Co and reduce its flying hours by 18 percent if lawmakers do not avert impending across-the-board spending cuts, the service told Congress on Wednesday.
The Air Force, in a draft presentation to Congress, said it faced shortfalls of $1.8 billion in war funding and $12.4 billion overall if Congress does not forestall the cuts, known as sequestration, which are due to take effect on March 1.
The impact of sequestration would be exacerbated, the Air Force said, if Congress did not pass a budget for the current fiscal year and stuck with the stop-gap spending measure currently in place, known as a "continuing resolution," or CR.
"Without substantial reprogramming flexibility, a year-long CR and sequestration disrupts modernization programs" and means a delay in getting weapons into the hands of troops, according to the presentation, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
It cited several examples, including expected reductions in the number of F-35 purchases, the need to renegotiate a big contract with Boeing for new refueling planes, and a delay in a new version of the MQ-9 Reaper drone built by privately held General Atomics.
The stop-gap spending measure prohibits any
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Duh, is it also going to reduce the flying hours of President Jarrett’s personal Corporate Jet, Air Force One?
Whaddup? It was in the low 30s when they had competition.
Why is this a problem? Were getting out of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Where do we need this? Our border with Mexico?
How can a 10-year 10% cut require an 18% reduction in one year?
It hardly saves you money if you stop buying things you already paid for. On the other hand, if nothing bad happens in the next year, we’ll save real money not sending a 2nd ship overseas. It’s a gamble, but it could pay off.
Of course, Obama could also simply stop spending 50 billion dollars on “green energy” initiatives through military contracting, but that would go against his general philosophy of throwing money away at things that don’t work.
The first years cut has to be made over only six months.
Reduce flying hours?
That’s the whole idea, Charlie.
President Lenin wants the Chinese to be able to fly rings around American pilots, so that, when the balloon goes up, the world’s communists will demonstrate solidarity.
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