Republicans disapprove of multi-year funding for purchases of Standard Missile 6 missile interceptors and AIM-120 AMRAAM aircraft missiles

House Republicans are preventing the US Department of Defence from using multi-year contracts for two of seven priority programmes. They cite cost changes and delays in a previous contract with RTX as the reason.

Here's What We Know

The Pentagon's FY 2024 budget request calls for $1.4bn to buy seven types of munitions over five years and $1.9bn to buy components for them. Republicans approved funding for the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRAMS), and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).

At the same time, Republicans are denying funding for the purchase of Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) interceptors for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, respectively. Officials believe that the Pentagon has not offered a realistic estimate, thus there is a lack of understanding of programme costs and production capacity.

Delays in the previous Standard Missile 6 contract were due to delays in the production of solid rocket motors. This was stated by RTX spokesman Chris Johnson. As for AMRAAM, the company is working with the US Air Force to expand the programme and save money.

Source: Defence News