FY 2016 House Appropriations Bill: Department of Defense S&T Programs

The full House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote the FY 2016 Department of Defense Appropriations Bill on June 2. Commenting on the bill, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) stated: “This legislation will help ensure that our armed forces are agile, efficient, ready and lethal. It reflects the reality that we live in an increasingly dangerous world, and we must guarantee that our military and intelligence community have the strength and capability to meet the rise of Islamic terror groups and other emerging threats and deter would-be aggressors like Iran, China, and Russia and North Korea. I am proud that we have kept faith with the brave men and women, and their families, who selflessly serve our country.”

Accompanying this $578.6 billion bill is an unnumbered draft committee report . The 375-page report has summary information on Research, Development, Test and Evaluation on report pages 5 and 6. The 62-page chapter on RDT&E starting on report page 205 provides detailed introductory information with later sections on Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense-Wide programs. Figures calculated from this report’s section and the Administration’s FY 2016 request follow, and are as compared to the current FY 2015 appropriation are below.

Total 6.1 Basic Research:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $2,277.8 million
The FY 2016 request is $2,089.0 million, a decrease of $188.8 million or 8.3 percent
The House bill provides $2,100.5 million, a decrease of $177.3 million or 7.8 percent

Total 6.2 Applied Research:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $4,647.8 million
The FY 2015 request is $4,713.2 million, an increase of $65.4 million or 1.4 percent
The House bill provides $4,837.9 million, an increase of $190.1 million or 4.1 percent

Total 6.3 Advanced Technology Development:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $5,326.4 million
The FY 2016 request is $5,464.4 million, an increase of $138.0 million or 2.6 percent
The House bill provides $5,735.0 million, an increase of $408.6 million or 7.7 percent

Total 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $12,252.0 million
The FY 2016 request is $12,266.6 million, an increase of $14.6 million or 0.1 percent
The House bill provides $12,673.4 million, an increase of $421.4 million or 3.4 percent

Total Army 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $2,554.9 million
The FY 2015 request is $2,200.6 million, a decrease of $354.3 million or 13.9 percent
The House bill provides $2,410.0 million, a decrease of $144.9 million or 5.7 percent

See page 222 for report language on Army Research Lab Open Campus Initiative.

Total Navy 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3:
The FY 2014 appropriation was $2,155.3 million
The FY 2015 request is $2,114.4 million or a decrease of $40.9 million or 1.9 percent
The House bill provides $2,175.9 million, a decrease of $20.6 million or 1.0 percent

See page 239 for report language on Highly Integrated Photonics.

Total Air Force 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $2,281.7 million
The FY 2016 request is $2,378.4 million or an increase of $96.7 million or 4.2 percent
The House bill provides $2,404.4 million, an increase of $122.7 million or 5.4 percent

Total Defense-Wide (i.e., DARPA, etc.) 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3:
The FY 2015 appropriation was $5,260.1 million
The FY 2016 request is $5,573.1 million, an increase of $313.0 million or 6.0 percent
The House bill provides $5,683.1 million, an increase of $423.0 million or 8.0 percent

In a separate section, see page 287 for report language on STEM Recruitment for Workforce Development.

The Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee is scheduled to mark up its counterpart bill on June 9.