The threat of renewed U.S. government budget sequestration in FY2016 loomed large at this week’s U.S. Air Force Association (AFA) conference and exposition. Nevertheless Air Force leadership seemed confident that they could protect their top-priority procurements: the F-35 stealth fighter, KC-46 tanker and the long-range strike bomber (LRS-B). This same week, the U.S. Congress passed a continuing resolution to enable uninterrupted spending on operations and procurement from October 1, the start of FY2015. A definitive National Defense Authorization (NDA) for FY2015 is not expected until January.

Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 program executive officer, delivered a generally upbeat presentation. “In the last four years, we haven’t lost a day on the schedule or asked for an extra cent in funding,” he claimed. Bogdan admitted that F-35 software development and fielding “is not on the critical path.” However, he suggested that the margins that were built into the 2010 schedule revision are currently sufficient to cover delays of four, five and six months to the Block 2B, 3I and 3F software standards, respectively. But there are also delays in the provision of F-35 simulators and the autonomic logistics information system (ALIS); reliability and maintainability are “problematic”; and so too is the production of mission data files. Bogdan also updated the AFA audience on the F135 engine problem.

Maj. Gen. John Thompson, KC-46 program executive officer, described the wiring problem that has delayed the maiden flight of the KC-46 by about four months, with a similar delay to the predecessor 767-2C development aircraft. Boeing failed to situate new 767 wiring that is specific to the tanker, such as that required for the radar warning receiver, in locations that were separated for redundancy. The company notified this safety issue to the customer early this year. It affects 350 wiring bundles, representing about 5 percent of the total.

“We’re disappointed, but not panicked,” Thompson said. The 767-2C is now expected to fly in November, and the first KC-46A in April next year. Boeing is supposed to deliver 18 aircraft by August 2017 and, as with the F-35 program, there is built-in margin that still makes this date possible.

The LRS-B continues to be the program that dare not speak its name. Northrop Grumman and the Boeing/Lockheed Martin team that are the likely only bidders for the stealthy jet are still prevented by official secrecy from describing their proposals. A request for proposals has been issued, and an award is expected in the first half of next year. “We’ve laid out unambiguous requirements and built in affordability,” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James told the conference.

Other highlights from the AFA conference included an admission by Secretary James that the service is experiencing cyber attacks “every day.” She called for all future procurements to have cyber protection built in, rather than bolted on.