Hill Heat

Hearing page

Chair: Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

Witnesses:

• Frank Kendall, Secretary Of The Air Force
• General Charles Q. Brown Jr., Chief Of Staff, Air Force
• General John W. Raymond, Chief Of Space Operations

The Department of the Air Force FY 2023 budget request is approximately $194.0 billion dollars, a $20.2B or 11.7% increase from the FY 2022 request. The Air Force budget of $169.5B is a $13.2B increase over the ’22 request and the Space force budget of $24.5B is a $7.1B increase; $3B of that is for inter-service transfers, the remaining $4.1B is programmatic growth.

Meeting the climate challenge:

The $1.0 million in infrastructure requirements for the deployment of non-tactical electric vehicles for the Air Force funds evaluation of the conversion of the non-tactical vehicle fleet to electric vehicles and installation-level charging infrastructure requirements to support it, as well as improve existing infrastructure.

The $105.0 million in Energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) and utility energy service contracts (UESC) for Air Force funds existing and projected Air Force performance contract payments to energy service companies for UESCs and ESPCs at Air Force installations.

The $14.2 million in management and procurement of renewable and clean energy for Air Force funds obligations under existing renewable energy power purchase contracts, where available, enabling 24/7 CFE in combination with innovative technology solutions.

The $36.2 million to deploy renewable energy, energy storage, and energy or water efficiency improvements to increase installation resilience and modernize infrastructure for Air Force enables increased energy and climate resilience through greater resource efficiency by establishing renewable energy paired with battery energy storage systems to meet mission requirements.

The $36.0 million in improvements in resilience to the expected impacts of climate change for Air Force allows for planning, design and execution of environmental resilience projects. These projects will ensure installations and facilities are climate-responsive and able to adapt to the evolving impacts of climate change, including but not limited to extreme weather events, sea level rise, drought, recurrent flooding, extreme temperatures, and permafrost melt.

$2.4 million to support the planning and installation of Electric Vehicle Support Equipment (EVSE) and leasing non-tactical ZEV.

The $5.0 million in climate impact planning for Air Force furthers the analysis of climate impacts on installations and missions, which is critical to ensuring installation development and installation energy plans effectively address such impacts. Funding will also assist in the implementation of installation climate resiliency plans which are incorporated into installation energy plans.

The $1.6 million for Air Force provides Headquarters-level personnel to support climate resilience, including planning, evaluating and executing energy resilience, climate-resilience, and carbon-free energy projects based on Executive Orders and law. These positions will support the central management of a variety of initiatives to enable climate resilience and the planning and implementation of new technologies in support of Department climate objectives.

The $59.8 million for energy-efficiency gains for existing platforms for Air Force funds operational energy investments to modify in-service aircraft with commercially-proven drag reduction technologies, modernizing the 21st century mission planning software and engine sustainment technology. This will improve aircraft performance, increase aircraft efficiency, and reduce maintenance and sustainment costs. Specifically, the C-130, KC-135, and the C-17A.

The $36.3 million in renewable energy research funds for Space Force funds the assessment of renewable energy capabilities, such as renewablepowered micro-grids with battery energy storage systems and geothermal technology, meeting 24/7 mission requirements and enabling demonstration and development of prototypes.

The $21.0 million for research into improving energy efficiency of existing platforms in Air Force funding supports improving flight line energy efficiency, by enabling the determination of appropriate energy efficiency improvements needed to meet mission requirements and climate related goals. This includes investments in state-of-the-art software, employing engine sustainment technologies to improve performance, increased use of simulation and augmented reality systems, and energy-aware behavior reducing unnecessary fuel consumption.

The $55.0 million in research for energy-efficient new platforms for Air Force supports the Service Climate Action Plan to include pursuing energy efficiencies in aircraft, such as the electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) system development to leverage dual-use emerging commercial technologies. One such technology, the Series Hybrid Electric Propulsion Aircraft Demonstrator (SHEPARD), is a step towards aircraft electric propulsion that could prove a pollution free air travel option and increase the energy efficiency of air travel.

The $0.4 million in measurement and modeling of climate impacts for Air Force supports the development of modern weather sensor and components to mitigate risk due to lack of warning of impending severe weather. More accurate weather information integrated into mission planning and execution can reduce fuel consumption, decrease re-attack sorties, and improve mission effectiveness.

The $0.9 million to reduce soldier risks from climate impacts in Air Force funding supports the integration of host nation weather radar data into the United States Air Force data display, interrogation, and exploitation platforms. This funding will greatly improve the forecasting and warning for severe or extreme weather events for defense facilities outside the continental United States.

The $2.5 million in climate war games for Air Force supports efforts for black-start exercises to assess that our installations are ready and capable of withstanding utility disruptions caused by extreme weather or malevolent acts. These exercises highlight needed utility improvements to support mission assurance, energy resilience, and climate-response.

The $1.1 million in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief support to civil authorities for Air Force enhances the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Global Synthetic Weather Radar project to reduce gap coverage of global radar mosaics and mitigate risk due to lack of warning of impending severe weather. These modernization efforts will enhance capability for the timely identification of environmental events impacting military operations globally. Funding will also ensure proper sustainment of climate services at higher enclaves to Combatant Commands, the Intelligence Community, advanced acquisition programs, and planning communities. It also includes necessary cybersecurity oversight to protect defense information systems from cyber threats.