Department of Defense

The Administration’s FY 2008 budget request for the Department of Defense (DoD) totals $481.4 billion, an 11.3 percent increase over FY07. [Note: DoD’s FY07 appropriations bill was one of only two passed before the current fiscal year began. As a result, SSTI is able to provide comparisons between the FY08 request and the FY07 appropriations. Variance between FY08 request and FY07 appropriations is provided in parentheses.]

 

Science and technology in the department does not share the rapid rate of growth, though. As has been the case in every presidential budget proposal since FY02, the Administration’s FY08 request for DoD basic, applied and advanced technology development is less than the prior year appropriation. All stages of R&D are expecting cuts in this year’s budget: the request for basic research has fallen to $1.43 billion (8 percent decrease), applied research has been cut to $4.36 billion (18.6 percent decrease), and the request for advanced technology development has been reduced even more sharply to $4.99 billion (22.4 percent decrease).

 

The proposed reductions would affect all of the armed services and defense-wide R&D programs. Unlike last year, cutbacks in the Army, Navy and Air Force would not be offset by research, development, testing and evaluation (RDT&E) funding increases for offices and agencies outside of the branches of the military, such as DARPA or the Defense Logistics Agency. Most of these agencies would receive reductions or slight increases under the proposed budget. DoD agencies expecting RDT&E cuts this year include:

• Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - $3.09 billion (1 percent decrease) to manage and direct selected basic and applied research and development projects for DoD
• Defense Information Systems Agency - $366 billion (11.6 percent decrease) to plan, engineer, acquire, field, and support global net-centric solutions for DoD
• Defense Logistics Agency - $70.7 million (66 percent decrease) to provide worldwide logistics support for DoD

The FY08 funding for DoD departments is as follows:

 

Army

• 6.1 Basic Research - $306 million (16 percent decrease)
• 6.2 Applied Research - $686 million (43 percent decrease)
• 6.3 Advanced Technology Development - $736 million (42 percent decrease)

Navy

• 6.1 Basic Research - $467 million (5 percent decrease)
• 6.2 Applied Research - $677.5 million (14 percent decrease)
• 6.3 Advanced Technology Development - $522 million (32 percent decrease)

Air Force

• 6.1 Basic Research - $375 million (8 percent decrease)
• 6.2 Applied Research - $1.011 billion (12.5 percent decrease)
• 6.3 Advanced Technology Development - $577 million (44 percent decrease)

Defense-wide

• 6.1 Basic Research - $280 million (6 percent decrease)
• 6.2 Applied Research - $1.982 billion (9 percent decrease)
• 6.3 Advanced Technology Development - $3.152 billion (6 percent decrease)

DoD programs of interest to the TBED community include:

• Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Basic Research Initiative - $5 million (49.8 percent decrease) to identify, conduct, and deliver science and technology that defend against weapons of mass destruction.
• Defense Research Sciences - $923.3 million (5.9 percent decrease) to fund university research, mostly by single investigators. Departmental breakdowns include $137.7 million for the Army (19 percent decrease), $374 million for the Navy (2.6 percent decrease), $259 million for the Air Force (8.1 percent decrease), and $152.6 million defense-wide (5.1 percent increase).
• Government/Industry Cosponsorship of University Research (GICUR) - No new funding is requested ($9.1 million decrease). GICUR fosters cooperative research by universities with industry or government laboratories.
• Defense Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) - $5.88 million (38 percent decrease) to improve the capabilities of U.S. institutions of higher education to conduct research and to educate scientists and engineers in the areas important to national defense
• Dual Use Science & Technology Program – No new funding is requested. The program is scheduled to be eliminated. The program received a nominal $986,000 in FY06 for close-out purposes.
• University Research Initiatives - $245.7 million (17.1 percent decrease) to enhance universities' capabilities to perform basic science and engineering research and related education in areas critical to national defense. Departmental breakdowns include $64.8 million for the Army (19.8 percent decrease), $76.6 million for the Navy (16.4 percent decrease), and $104.3 million for the Air Force (9.3 percent decrease).
• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBSU) Science - $15.15 million (20.1 percent decrease) to strengthen the defense research capacity of historically black institutions of higher education.
• Defense-wide Technology Transfer - $2.2 million (83 percent decrease) to transition R&D to weapons systems, and to assist in the commercialization of defense technologies.