Issues in Air Force Science and Technology Funding

📖 The Scoop

Just a few years ago there was considerable consternation and hand wringing over the Air Force science and technology (S & T) budget. This culminated in March 2000, when the Air Force was attacked verbally by its staunchest supporter, the Air Force Association, in a surprise article (to Air Force senior leadership) on The Shortfall of Science and Technology." This article bluntly pointed out that the Air Force had gone from first to last among the Armed Services in the amount it spends on science and technology. The article stated that, since fiscal year 1989 the Air Force budget for research and advanced technology development had fallen by more than half and was expected to continue to decline; by 2005, total obligation authority allocated to science and technology was projected to drop almost 30 percent below its 1993 level. The article observed that "these are alarming trends for a service that hangs its hat on technological superiority." During this same timeframe, other voices, including Congress, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the National Research Council, voiced similar concerns.

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