USAF budget concerns may threaten JSTARS program

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Air Force officials worry the planned recapitalization of the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, will have to be canceled due to budget restrictions.

William LaPlante, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, spoke to reporters at an event hosted by Defense One on Tuesday, saying the plan might not happen at all.

"It's a budget issue, so it depends on the sequester and where the priorities are in the department," LaPlante told Defense News. "It might not happen at all."

Budgets for defense contracts and other military operations have also been impacted by the passage of continuing resolutions by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Partisan debates on government funding for various programs, including defense, threatened to force a government shutdown in early October, which may have forced government defense and security employees, including troops, to have their pay suspended.

The passage of another CR kept the government open until December.

The acquisition process for JSTARS was delayed by the Pentagon in late September, following a review of its budget. The system is designed to enable the Air Force to provide ground troops with surveillance and tactical information.

Thus far, the Air Force has not yet detailed what more work needs to be done.