US Special Forces FY24 Budget Request
On 15 March 2023, the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) published their FY24 budget request. The 186 pages long document also contains some interesting details on the USAF and US Army Special Forces aviation assets.
USSOCOM (or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the US Armed Forces. The command is part of the Department of Defense and is the only unified combatant command created by an Act of Congress. USSOCOM is headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.
Before going into detail, it must be said that additional aircraft and helicopters are operated by the USSOCOM under so called black budgets which obviously remain undisclosed.
At the end of FY24, the USSOCOM is requesting budget to operate the following aircraft:
The document refers to CASA-212, while the military designation for this type is C-41A. Another interesting point is that both PC-12 and U-28A are mentioned in the budget request. The number of PC-12 aircraft currently on strength is listed as five, but will be reduced to four in Q4/2024. The number of U-28A aircraft mentioned remains stable at thirty.
An analysis of additional information mentioned about the planned status at the end of FY24 learns us that both the MC-130H and EC-130J will be completely withdrawn from use. This was already previously announced and actually the last MC-130H was retired to 309th AMARG at Davis Monthan AFB (AZ) early April 2023.
Regarding the seven EC-130J aircraft which were on strength with the Pennsylvania ANG, the phase out plan per year quater is as follows. The numbers between brackets are the number of EC-130Js still on active duty in that specific quarter:
Currently, thirteen MC-12W Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft are assigned to the Oklahoma ANG. This number will be reduced in FY24. Three aircraft will be retired by Q2/2024, followed by another one in Q3/2024. A further reduction is expected to take place in FY25, eventually leading to the complete withdrawal of the type from the inventory.
What also stands out is that the planned number of flying hours of several Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) aircraft will be reduced. Exception is the MC-130J, which most likely is due to the fact that additional aircraft are still being delivered (including as replacement for the EC-130J). The overview shows details per type of flying hours FY22 actual, FY23 enacted, FY24 planned, Delta FY23 vs FY24:
These details were not provided for the other types on the inventory list. But in a general statement it is mentioned that this reduction is mainly due to the increased costs in service prices of components. Simply said, without a massive budget increase, the only option is a flying hour reduction.
For the US Army's USASOC, the following points are worth mentioning:
The pair of MH-60L helicopters which were still on strength were retired in Q4/2022. These Black Hawks were used by the US Army Special Operations Command Flight Company (USASOC Flt Co) at Fort Bragg (NC). Interestingly, three were confirmed active end-2021: 90-26248 (sep21), 02-26961 (dec21) and 03-26983 (oct21), but either way this type now seems to be completely withdrawn from use.
Another interesting point is that the Little Bird helicopters are planned to undergo yet another modification. Depending on the mission configuration, these helicopters are designated AH-6M (attack) or MH-6M (assault). The mission configuration can be adjusted by ground crews in a very short period of time. Therefore the entire fleet is usually referred to as A/MH-6M, or simply as MH-6M. The nature of the upgrades is not yet known, but by the end of FY24, seventeen of the fifty-one helicopters are planned to be upgraded to A/MH-6R standard. It is expected that the entire fleet will be converted to this upgraded configuration in FY25 or beyond.
Concluding the analysis, at first glance it seems somewhat odd that the MH-47G Block II upgrade programme is not mentioned in this document. This is because it is part of the overall Chinook upgrade programme which falls under US Army budget and not the USSOCOM budget.
Early March-2023, it was announced that Boeing secured another order to convert six additional MH-47G helicopters to MH-47G Block II standard. Including this contract, the total number of MH-47G Block II Chinooks ordered is now thirty-six. In their FY24 budget request, the US Army is asking funding for six additional conversions.
Photo by Jeroen Jonkers (Scramble Archive)