The House Armed Services Committee’s chairman’s mark of the fiscal year 2022 defense policy bill would authorize $21.4 billion in Army procurement, a slight increase from the $21.3 billion in the service’s budget request.
Wheeled and tracked combat vehicles would receive the largest increases compared to the budget request. The mark would authorize $4.2 billion worth of combat vehicle procurement, up from $3.9 billion in the budget request.
The M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer would see the largest increase under the chairman’s mark, which would increase funding by $149 million, to $596 million. The Army included the Paladin upgrades on a list of unfunded priorities it sent Congress this year.
The M1 Abrams tank would also see a boost under the chairman’s mark, which would authorize an extra $135 million over the budget request, for a total of $1.1 billion. The M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle would receive a smaller increase, of $46 million, bringing the total to $508 million.
The mark would meet the Army’s $105 million request for the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the replacement for the M113 armored personnel carrier. That is different from the House Appropriations Committee, which voted to cut $42 million from the delayed program’s budget last month.
Army aircraft procurement would see a smaller increase under the chairman’s mark, up to $2.9 billion from $2.8 billion in the budget request.
The mark would cut $48 million from the budget for the UH-60M Black Hawk utility helicopter, citing unit cost growth. The program would receive $582 million, rather than the $630 million the Army requested.
The CH-47F Chinook Block II upgrade program would receive a boost under the chairman’s mark. The program would receive $286 million under the mark, an increase of $141 million from the budget request.