(Includes Defense S&T Information and a secret decoder ring.)
Kei Koizumi at AAAS has done his usual bang-up job in getting out the overall R&D numbers for FY06. The latest report can be found here:
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/upd1205.htm
Of particular interest to us are the following three tables:
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/dod06c1.pdf
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/dod06c2.pdf
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/dod06c3.pdf
They are AAAS estimates of R&D and S&T funding taking into account the 1% cut and other rescissions, including the medical research specified in the Defense Health Programs.
AAAS estimates that:
6.1 (Basic Research) accounts will be DOWN 2.9% ($44 million) from FY05, but UP 11.4% ($150 million) from the budget request;
6.2 (Applied Research) accounts will be UP 6.5% ($313 million) from FY05, and UP 24.8% ($1026 million) from the budget request; and,
6.3 (Advanced Technology Development) accounts will be DOWN 1.9% ($132 million) from FY05, but UP 30.8% ($1562 million) from the budget request.
That gives total S&T an INCREASE of 1% ($137 million) over FY05, which is a 26% increase ($2738 million) over the budget request. Because this increase is below the rate of inflation, the overall Defense S&T enterprise will see a decrease in purchasing power from FY05. This being said, S&T came out of the process much better than expected given the decreases seen in the FY06 budget request and the budget pressures seen in a time of war.
Some might wonder what the impact of earmarks are on S&T. Well, there is AAAS analysis done on that as well.
http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd/earm06c.htm
from the report:
- The DOD budget contains $852 million R&D earmarks, down slightly from $1 billion last year but still well above other years. The earmarks are mostly small ($10 million or less) projects, but significantly most are for research rather than development or R&D facilities construction, squeezing basic research and applied research budgets. Earmarks for “6.1” (basic research) programs total $57 million, or 4 percent of the total; “6.2” (applied research) earmarks are $228 million, also 4 percent of the total because of a large number of medical research projects; and “6.3” earmarks are $319 million or 5 percent of the total. Earmarks in the “6.4” or higher categories of DOD R&D are only $248 million, a large dollar total but only 0.4 percent of the total portfolio. Earmarks have an especially large impact on basic research because overall basic research funding declines 2.9 percent in 2006 even as earmarks nearly double, squeezing funding for core programs.