FY20 President’s Budget Statement from AFA

March 12, 2019

FY20 President’s Budget Statement from AFA

Arlington, Va. – The President’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 budget proposal was released Tuesday the proposed budget is an increase over 2019 with a topline of $750 billion. The Air Force’s is requesting $165.6 billion in FY20, for an increase of $10 billion over FY19.

Highlights from the President’s Budget Request include:

• 48 F-35As
• 8 F-15EXs
• 12 KC-46A Tankers
• 12 HH-60W Combat Rescue Helicopters
• 12 MQ-9 Reapers
• 8 MC-130Js
• 1 EC-37B Compass Call
• Space procurement will flatline at $2.4 billion
• Recruitment goals of 4,400 Airmen
• 3.1 percent pay increase for Airmen, excluding civilians

“The F-35 is not being procured at a rate sufficient to recapitalize the Air Force we have and certainly not at the rate required to support the Air Force we need. By buying fewer planes now the proposed budget raises unit costs. That’s not a good use of government funds,” said The Honorable F. Whitten Peters, Chairman of the Board of the Air Force Association. “The buy rate on F-35 could be solved if the funds earmarked for the F-15X were instead invested in more F-35s. New, old F-15s do not contribute to the advanced fighter needs demanded by the Nation’s defense strategy. I am also concerned that civilian salaries will remain frozen. Civilians play crucial roles in cyber, space, logistics, maintenance, and a growing list of technical specialties. It is simply incomprehensible that civilian airmen would be singled out for a pay freeze.”

For information or to speak with an AFA official on this topic, contact Bridget Dongu, AFA’s Director of Communications, bdongu@afa.org.