The Air Force’s fiscal year 2020 budget states it will need $11.7 billion over the next five years for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program -- a significant increase from last year’s projection that appears to reflect a refined cost estimate for the key space-based missile warning program. Inside Defense reported last October that Next-Generation OPIR, the follow-on to the Space-Based Infrared System, was severely underfunded in FY-18 and FY-19 -- about $744 million in those two years ...
