{"id":40363,"date":"2019-09-04T14:23:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T14:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/04\/controversial-changes-coming-soon-in-air-forces-next-budget-its-top-civilian-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:50:28","slug":"controversial-changes-coming-soon-in-air-forces-next-budget-its-top-civilian-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/09\/04\/controversial-changes-coming-soon-in-air-forces-next-budget-its-top-civilian-says\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Controversial changes\u2019 are coming in US Air Force\u2019s next budget, its top civilian says"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matt Donavan talks about the service’s plan for changes in the next budget, which could mean retiring older aircraft.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force\u2019s top civilian hinted the service will make major cuts to certain legacy programs<\/a> \u2014 and potentially retire entire aircraft inventories \u2014 to further invest in advanced technology for combating future threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acting Air Force Secretary Matt Donovan<\/a> said the service is following the lead of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who said he is open to divesting legacy capabilities and has directed a Defense Department-wide review aimed at reshaping the fiscal 2021 budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis guidance states that \u2018no reform is too small, too bold or too controversial to be considered,\u2019 \u201d Donovan said in a keynote speech at the third annual Defense News Conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more from the 2019 Defense News Conference!<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Air Force is leading the way with bold and likely controversial changes to our future budgets,” Donovan added. “We need to shift funding and allegiance from legacy programs we can no longer afford due to their incompatibility with future battlefields and into the capabilities and systems that the nation requires for victory. There\u2019s no way around it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past decade, the Air Force has famously attempted to divest legacy aircraft like the A-10 and U-2<\/a> \u2014often with politically disastrous results. In its FY14 budget, the service announced plans to retire the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance drone to pay for other modernization priorities. When Congress rebuffed that plan, the Air Force called for the retirement of the U-2 and A-10, further enraging lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The battle over the fate of the aircraft persisted until the release of the FY18 budget request, when the service announced it had no fixed retirement plans for the U-2 or A-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are plenty of people on Capitol Hill who understand we need to change and who believe it is important for the future effectiveness of the U.S. military. The problem, as it always is, is the devil\u2019s in the details,\u201d said Chris Brose, a former staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee, who is now the head of strategy for Anduril Industries. \u201cPeople want to change until change hits their bottom line or takes something out of their state or district. But that in and of itself isn\u2019t \u2018game over.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t