[snip]

The $369 million would buy advance procurement parts to begin production on a dozen new fighters. Ultimately, the planes would cost about $2.8 billion.

The advance procurement money would be taken from funds budgeted for Energy Department cleanups at nuclear weapons sites, a House aide said.

The $369 million would be a down payment on 12 new planes to be procured in fiscal year 2011 (aka next calendar year). Including this advanced procurement funding does not mean the planes will be bought - indeed, advanced F-22 procurement dollars were approved last year but HASC redirected them to F-22 modifications in FY 2010 - but it sure makes it easier. If the advanced procurement dollars pass, lawmakers will be able to say they already sunk money into the buy and that it therefore should go forward in FY 2011 so the money isn't wasted.

HASC did well to beat back attempts to restore funding for missile defense programs that don't work. It also pumped up nonproliferation dollars. But this F-22 stuff is smoke-filled, backroom hijinks. I don't think the roll call is available yet showing how members voted on the F-22 amendment, but I'll post it when I see it.

Which Democrat will have the courage to offer a floor amendment (likely next week) to knock out the extra F-22 money? Can that Democrat find a Republican friend who takes fiscal responsibility seriously even when it comes to defense?

POGO and Defense Tech have more.

Security Matters (all tags)

Center Analysis

Growth in U.S. Defense Spending Since 2001
The Pentagon's budget has increased dramatically since 2001. In inflation-adjusted dollars, the total defense budget has grown from $432 billion in FY01 to $720 billion in FY11, a real increase of approximately 67 percent. The Pentagon’s base budget, whic...

Lips and Teeth
If it is true that North Korea’s WMD programs are being funded principally from illicit arms sales, then it is imperative that China take its UN Security Council sanctions obligations more seriously. In this new analysis, Chad O'Caroll questions whether t...

FY 2011 Threat Reduction and Nonproliferation Funding
In his historic Prague speech on nuclear weapons, President Obama pledged that the United States would lead “a new international effort to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.” While last year's budget request was wel...

The Obama disarmament paradox: A rebuttal
Greg Mello's recent Bulletin article "The Obama Disarmament Paradox" distorts the Obama administration's nuclear agenda by making unjustified assumptions that discredit President Barack Obama's historic commitment to seek a nuclear-weapon-free w...

Fact Sheet: 2010 Nuclear Posture Review
The Nuclear Posture Review is scheduled for release sometime in March or April 2010. The review will set U.S. nuclear weapons policy for the next five to ten years and influence the implementation of President Obama's far-reaching agenda to reduce the rol...