NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The Air Force on Sept. 18 warned that a failure to pass a new budget for the federal government for part or all of fiscal 2025 could degrade military readiness and slow the arrival of critical equipment as Congress ticks toward a shutdown in less than two weeks.
Continuing resolutions have become the norm each year as Congress repeatedly fails to approve appropriations bills on time. CRs keep spending levels frozen at the previous year’s marks and prevents new programs from being started.
A continuing resolution would hamper promised pay increases for troops, hinder nuclear modernization, and pause purchases of weapons and aircraft the Air Force sees as key in a future war with China, among other impacts outlined in a fact sheet the Department of the Air Force provided to Air & Space Forces Magazine.
“Any length of CR impacts readiness, hinders acceleration of the Space Force, delays military construction projects, reduces aircraft availability, and curbs modernization in the race for technological superiority,” the department argued. “These impacts get dramatically more perilous as sequestration is imposed under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.”
Fresh details on a stopgap bill’s possible impact on the Air Force and Space Force came hours before the House failed to pass a six-month CR proposed by Republicans that would keep the federal government running on the fumes of fiscal 2024 funding until March 28, 2025.
Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to approve a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown starting Oct. 1.
The Pentagon routinely opposes stopgap spending legislation, arguing the measures erode military readiness by jeopardizing acquisition and training and injecting uncertainty into the defense industry.
The Air Force seeks a budget of $188.1 billion in fiscal 2025; the Space Force requested $29.4 billion.
Under a three-month CR, the Department of the Air Force said, space launch and testing modernization would fall short and technologies that protect space-based communications could not enter production. Such a bill would also hit routine maintenance of aircraft and other equipment, the Air Force’s flight training budget, facilities upkeep, and upcoming contract awards.
A six-month CR could stop the Air Force from buying greater numbers of high-end munitions like the extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, and Stand-In Attack Weapon. That could trigger a $400 million fine for failing to meet contract obligations, the Air Force said, and hurt Air Force and Navy stockpiles.
Such a bill would delay production of the first seven T-7A Red Hawk training jets by a year and keep flat the number of MH-139 Grey Wolf patrol helicopters in production at Boeing, the service said. Fighter programs are also at risk; a CR may restrict future F-35 Lightning II contracts and delay further production of the new F-15EX Eagle II, “potentially leading to [a] production line break and [delaying] support for fielded active and ANG aircraft,” the Air Force said.
After six months, the Air Force may also struggle to cover increases in military pay or dole out bonuses designed to keep Airmen in critical and undermanned career fields. A CR could delay Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve training and affect funding for “must-pay” housing and subsistence stipends, the service said.
And while less likely, a yearlong CR may postpone progress toward the department’s strategic goals, stall the Space Force’s advancement, and prevent dozens of major construction projects from getting underway.
Work on Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the Air Force’s top priority effort to field a fleet of drone wingmen, would also see delays under a yearlong CR, the service said.
If a CR is still in place on April 30, 2025, federal discretionary spending would automatically be slashed to meet caps imposed by the 2023 Fiscal Responsibility Act.
“These actions not only stifle modernization, but inalterably give ground to our adversaries by reducing [Department of the Air Force] buying power by $15 [billion],” the department said.
CRs also prevent the services from launching new programs, slowing research and development, and pausing projects to restore or replace neglected buildings on base.
The Department of the Air Force flagged 33 new construction projects totaling $2.1 billion, from aircraft simulator facilities to a child care center, that would be put on hold under a CR. At least $1.3 billion more in research, procurement and maintenance initiatives—not including classified programs—would also face delays.
Military officials are asking for an exception to the restriction on new starts for at least five efforts. Those include a Space Force program to develop secure tactical communications satellites, “bunker-buster” bombs designed to penetrate targets deep underground, and nuclear weapons security.
Service leaders fear potential budgetary woes could hit programs of all sizes and across all missions.
Speaking to reporters at AFA’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference here Sept. 16, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said a sweeping new training exercise, slated for next summer to practice for a prospective war with China, could be pared back without adequate funding in place. Space Force Brig. Gen. Kristin L. Panzenhagen, the top officer overseeing launch facilities at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, said the service may have trouble awarding the next National Security Space Launch contract—which hires commercial firms to take military satellites and payloads to orbit—if they don’t get a new budget.
Air Force Undersecretary Melissa G. Dalton predicted that a CR could delay bringing on the service’s secretive new B-21 Raider stealth bomber as well as postpone development of a new land-based nuclear missile and efforts to maintain the current arsenal.
“The stakes are pretty high,” Dalton said Sept. 18. “We need resources aligned and on time.”
As a last-ditch effort to support top priorities that would be neglected by a CR, service leaders can ask lawmakers to repurpose existing funds away from other programs. It’s unclear whether the Department of the Air Force will lean on that option in the absence of stable funding.
“We’re going to be doing as much as we can to continue our momentum on moving things forward,” Allvin said. “If that requires reprogramming, then we’ll … pursue those as necessary. But I really can’t give you a very precise answer on that now, until we see … how long that continuing resolution would be.”
News Editor Greg Hadley and Pentagon Editor Chris Gordon contributed to this story.
