White House seeks increase in Defense space funding, decrease in communications

The White House is requesting $10.2 billion for Defense Department space programs in 2012, up $700 million from its 2011 budget request of $9.5 billion. The Obama administration's $10.9 billion funding request for command, control, communications and computer programs is $200 million less than previously requested.

Key C4 programs include the Joint Tactical Radio System, which has been in development since 1997. The program aims to provide all four services with a family of radios that can operate on multiple frequencies and bands. Defense is requesting $1.542 billion for JTRS, down $897 million from the $2.439 billion the department requested in its 2011 budget, which Congress has not yet approved.

Under the request, the Army would receive $1.272 billion for its broadband Warfighter Information Network-Tactical, up $640 million from the proposed $613 million requested for 2011. This network already uses terrestrial communications, but the 2012 budget will fund deployment of small satellite terminals that operate in the Ka-band to support mobile networking.

The 2012 budget also includes $749 million for the second and last set of equipment for an advanced tactical network the Army has tested during the past three years at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, down $1.502 billion from $2.251 billion requested in 2011. Defense said the Army will use the systems developed for these tests as the basis for new systems that will be fielded incrementally.

The Air Force, which manages Defense space assets, plans to save money on satellite procurements by buying them in blocks, Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for budget said Monday at a Pentagon press briefing.

The Air Force plans to kick off this block-buy strategy with the Advanced Extremely High-Frequency satellites, which provide up to 160 low-data-rate cellular channels for voice operation and two dozen 2-megabit-per-second channels for broadband data. The administration is seeking $974.5 million for the AEHF system in 2012, up $376.1 million from the $598.4 million requested in 2011. Flowers said $522 million will serve as the down payment on the purchase of two satellites.

The Air Force also will follow this approach to purchase two satellites for the Space-Based Infrared ballistic missile warning satellite system, Flower said. The service has budgeted $995 million for SBIRS in 2012, down $531 million from $1.526 billion requested in 2011. He said $552 million of the 2012 budget will go towards procurement of four of the satellites.

The administration also is requesting $481.5 million for procurement of the eighth satellite in the Wideband Global System, which serves the Army's Warfighter Information Network-Tactical. This is down $130.3 million from the $611.8 million requested for 2011, which included funds for testing and integration, as well as procurement.

The 2012 budget request includes $482.4 million for the Navy's Mobile User Objective, designed to provide global voice and low-data-rate service for mobile users, down $429 million from $911.4 million in 2011.

The proposed 2012 budget for the Air Force includes $1.462 billion to buy and launch GPS satellites, up $404 million from $1.058 billion in 2011.