Congress ups Defense's '92 R&D funding 10%

The last and largest piece of fiscal 1992 federal research and development funding is now in place, with Congress' approval of $39.3 billion for the Department of Defense's R&D program. That figure represents a 10% increase over fiscal 1991 funding levels but is 2% less than the Administration requested. Funding for Air Force R&D is up 18% to $14.1 billion. The Army's R&D budget is up 17% to $6.6 billion, and that for the defense agencies is up 9% to $10 billion. Only the Navy's R&D budget is less than it was in fiscal 1991, down 5% to $8.6 billion. Congress approved the full amount, $4.15 billion, requested for the Strategic Defense Initiative, whose fiscal 1991 funding was $2.9 billion. Support for university research initiatives, funded out of the defense agencies' R&D account, is set at $226 million—a somewhat surprising figure. Programs don't usually come out of a House-Senate conference committee with more money than ...