Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
12/5/2014
House lawmakers voted this week to approve a final version of the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, which would establish a $3.5 billion National Sea-Based Deterrence Fund. The Senate is expected to follow suit next week. One provision of the bill would authorize the Defense Secretary to shift up to $3.5 billion in unobligated balances from FY 2014, 2015 and 2016 into an account designated to bankroll work on the Ohio-class replacement ballistic missile submarine, a project estimated to cost a total of $93 billion. The newly created account would set aside money for the design, procurement, alteration and conversion of SSBNs.
The bill would authorize more than $849.3 million for research, development, test and evaluation in FY 2015 for the Ohio-class replacement, another $156.1 million for development of the ship’s reactor systems, and an additional $24 million for construction of the ship’s power and propulsion facility to be built in Philadelphia. All three figures match President Obama’s FY 2015 funding requests.
While the established fund would help support the next-generation SSBN program, questions still linger in a tight budget environment. During a recent interview with NS&D Monitor, Ohio Replacement Program Executive Officer Jack Evans of Naval Sea Systems Command said a sea-based deterrence fund could offer more funding flexibility, but added that the account would not solve the question of funding sources. “If Congress sees the rationale and this program needs to be fully funded, we can execute under the existing [budget] structure,” he said. “I will raise to attention any specific aspects that might help me move the affordability dial lower.”
Bill Scales Back ‘Warm’ Status of ICBM Silos
The bill also includes a provision which, as long as New START remains in effect, would require silos housing deployed ICBMs to be kept at a minimum of “warm” status, which entails silos being operational with a deployed missile and fully functional in the nuclear command and control architecture. The provision would allow silos to temporarily go offline for workers to perform maintenance activities, but dictates that they be maintained to permit return to operational alert status. A House-passed version of the bill previously would have kept the silos in warm status indefinitely, which was opposed by House Democrats.
In addition to outlining the alert level requirements for ICBMs, the bill would authorize $23.6 million for ICBM training equipment, an amount added to the Administration’s $14.1 million request for base support equipment. The bill authorizes a total of $37.7 million for base support equipment. The bill also authorizes the President’s request of $59.8 million for ICBM fuze modernization and another $9.6 million for ICBM training hardware in connection with the Air Force’s Force Improvement Program.
Trident Is Prioritized in Bill
The latest version of the NDAA would authorize more money for Trident 2s than any other strategic force, calling for $1.19 billion for Trident 2 modifications, exceeding the Administration request of $1.185 billion. The bill would authorize a funding level matching the Administration’s request of $139.1 million for operational systems development for Minuteman 3s, along with the White House request of $16.6 million for operational systems development for and procurement of the air-launched cruise missile.
In addition, the bill would also authorize a funding level matching the President’s tactical procurement, post-production support and operational systems development requests of $240.8 million for B-52s. For B-1s, the bill authorizes $4.4 million for operational systems development for B-2 squadrons, $1 million less than the Administration’s request. But the bill would match the President’s $140.3 million request for procurement of the tactical version of the aircraft. The authorization also meets the White House’s $71.7 million request for procurement and post-production support for B-2s, but falls $20 million short of the Administration’s $131.6 million request for operational systems development for the bomber.
Bill Would Direct a Series of NC3 Reports
The bill also contains a provision that would require the commander of U.S. Strategic Command to annually submit a report detailing the installation of nuclear command, control and communications systems as part of the replacement for STRATCOM headquarters at Offutt AFB. “The reports would stop when the commander certifies to the congressional defense committees that all milestones have been completed, and the headquarters building is a fully functioning node in the overall NC3 architecture,” the Joint Explanatory Statement for the bill says. The Government Accountability Office will review each report and brief Congressional defense committees on whether the installed NC3 systems are meeting timeline and cost benchmarks, and whether programmatic or technical issues are stymieing the architecture from becoming an operational hub in the larger NC3 network.
