Little changing for Navy in funding shift

[unhappycamper]

Little changing for Navy in funding shift
By Kate Brannen - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jul 8, 2010 18:45:40 EDT

The Pentagon wants to shift nearly $4 billion in previously allocated funding, much of it within the Army’s budget to buy arms and gear needed in Afghanistan, according to a July 2 omnibus reprogramming request.

Navy Times obtained a copy of the 89-page request, signed by Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale and sent to Congress for review.

The Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle takes a big hit: $200 million is to be moved to higher-priority items, according to the request. Earlier this year, the Army asked permission to trim Bradley funding by $154 million; Congress has yet to make a decision on that request.

A similar cut moves $143 million out of research and development funding for the Army’s Combat Vehicle Improvement program. The funds are available because the Pentagon has delayed its decision to upgrade the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the Abrams tank, according to the reprogramming request.

To support operations, the Pentagon wants to shift $100 million to purchase 1,500 One System Remote Video Terminal, the Army’s version of the Air Force’s ROVER system, which provides soldiers access to full-motion video shot by UAVs.



unhappycamper comment: $200 million is chump change. The new aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford will cost somewhere between $16,5 billion dollars to $40 billion dollars.

Oh, and the SPY radars on Arleigh Burke class destroyers are failing due to lack of maintenance and personnel.