Bomb Busted

The Senate Armed Services Committee has blocked a Defense Department reprogramming request to shift $104.5 million in fiscal year 2014 wartime appropriations toward the development of a modification to the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, according to a recent reprogramming document.

Development of the 30,000-pound bunker-buster bomb was on hold while the Air Force completed a Hard Target Munitions AOA. The request signals the service's intention to pursue a MOP capability upgrade to meet operational requirements.

The congressional defense committees have not blocked a related $16.5 million transfer that supports MOP modification procurement.

In related news, InsideDefense.com reported earlier this week that the House Appropriations defense subcommittee had rejected a request by the Office of the Secretary of Defense to realign $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2014 wartime spending to buy eight F-35s to replace Air Force F-15 and Marine Corps AV-8B training and combat losses:

That request aimed to secure additional orders to ramp up production despite fiscal constraints in the base budget.

Furthermore, the 110 or so aircraft that have already been delivered continue to operate under a restricted flight envelope following an engine malfunction in June that caused a fire onboard an A-model F-35 at Eglin Air Force Base, FL.

The joint program office and F135 engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney are working to deliver a fix that would be retrofitted on new production and delivered engines. Aircraft and engine production continues despite the incident, program officials have said.

We now have a version of the reprogramming that shows the sections of the request that were blocked by lawmakers. View it here.