The current Congress’s inability to pass a defense appropriations bill on time endangers the development of essential weapon systems. Critically needed hypersonic defense technology is just one example. And now we learn that the appropriations bill for funding FY2022 national security capability may be pushed into March with another continuing resolution. Air Force Magazine reported, “Congress will consider yet another continuing resolution – the third this fiscal year – to keep the government funded into March, as lawmakers continue to haggle over the fiscal 2022 budget.” What that means is the $3.8 billion for hypersonic missile development and $300 million for hypersonic missile defense requested and authorized in the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act for the full twelve months of the fiscal year will now have to be spent in only six months.
Consequently, disciplined, structured funding planning, programming, and budgeting by the Defense Department’s program and budget managers are rendered moot. The fact that the Senate and House authorizers increased President Biden’s request for hypersonic missile defense by 21% from $247 million to $300 million is meaningless. There isn’t enough time in the remaining budget year to responsibly plan, program, obligate, and spend the additional money.
As the Russians and Chinese increase their lead in the development and testing of hypersonic weapons, the U.S. falls further behind without adequate and timely funding. Though former President Donald Trump’s Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD/R&E), Michael Griffin, identified hypersonics as his number one development program, until recently not much has been heard from the Pentagon. However, to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s credit, he met with aerospace and defense CEOs in pursuit of the weaponry. But it’s about the money. It’s always about the money.
As Courtney Albon and Joe Gould reported for Defense News:
“Top Pentagon officials and defense industry executives huddled on hypersonic weapons development this week, marking a new level of attention to the area. But experts say the fiscal 2023 budget will be the true test of whether the U.S. Department of Defense is serious about building the necessary momentum to deliver hypersonic capabilities on a faster timeline.”
The current USD/R&E, Heidi Shyu, led the meeting with industry representatives, including the cameo appearance by Secretary Austin to emphasize the importance of hypersonic technology to national security. For the most part, the gathering was an opportunity for the Pentagon leadership to hear the industry executives describe their apprehensions over shortfalls in development. Those concerns centered on “supply chain constraints, acquisition barriers, budget instability and access to test facilities.” The lack of availability to ground test facilities like wind tunnels that develop velocities more than ten times the speed of sound puts the U.S. at a considerable disadvantage. As the CEOs explained, “without suitable testing facilities, the department will struggle to truly adopt a ‘test often, fail fast and learn’ development approach.”
According to Breaking Defense, “One overwhelming concern shared by companies was the impact of budgetary disruption, including an ongoing continuing resolution for fiscal 2022 that is effectively reducing the department’s investment in certain hypersonic programs.” The assembled executives pounded home the fact “long-term budgetary certainty was critical to keep hypersonic development and testing on track.”
X-43A hypersonic experimental aircraft. NASA Hypersonic Jet Fails Test Flight (Photo by NASA via Getty Images)
Defense News’s Megan Eckstein reported that the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the agency charged with developing a missile capable of intercepting enemy hypersonic missiles, has hit a speedbump in its “plan to field an interceptor” to destroy incoming missiles. Vice Admiral Jon Hill, MDA director, talked with Eckstein, giving context for her article. “Budget uncertainty ‘throttles’ MDA’s development of a hypersonic missile interceptor,” Hill explained. Eckstein asked him about the future for the three companies that MDA had identified for developing solutions for the interceptor.
Hill replied: “The best answer I can give you in this environment today: … We live in a world right now where we don’t have current year appropriations, and we also don’t have insight into the following year’s topline. So, unfortunately, that throttles this program… It’s not a technology issue. It’s purely a financial problem.”
That “purely financial problem” can be placed right at the congressional appropriators’ doorstep. The political dithering puts the U.S. homeland and the armed forces at risk. Washington legislators’ refusal or inability to prioritize national defense is a violation of public trust and obligation.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliation.
~ Read more from Dave Patterson.
