The Air Force avoided the budget ax it fell under last year and increased its investment in unmanned aircraft, according to fiscal 2011 budget recommendations laid out Monday by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.More MQ-9A Reapers will be bought than any other aircraft, with 48 purchases planned for 2011. That investment likely won’t slow down as the Air Force tries to reach a goal set by Gates to fly 65 round-the-clock unmanned orbits by 2013.“This is a capability we will be seeing growth for some years in the future, even as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan eventually wind down, just because the more that we use them in a way, the more we have identified their potential in a broader and broader set of circumstances,” Gates said.The Air Force’s 2011 proposed budget increased $4.8 billion to $170.8 billion — that includes a 1.4 percent increase for basic pay and a 4.2 percent rise in housing allowance for airmen.Last year, Gates recommended the end of three of the Air Force’s top five acquisition priorities, including new combat search-and-rescue helicopters, the transformational satellite and the next-generation bomber.Gates reinserted one of those programs this year: The proposed budget includes $200 million to develop a long range strike bomber.Six more HH-60M Pave Hawks will be bought for $218 million, including three to replace for combat losses. The CSAR-X program was supposed to replace the Pave Hawks.Gates came down hard on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, firing the program manager a year after he recommended the Air Force not buy more F-22 Raptors. The proposed budget includes $10.7 billion for 43 F-35s — 23 going to the Air Force and 20 to the Navy.Plans to purchase a new mobility aircraft were unveiled during Monday’s Pentagon briefing to explain the Air Force’s budget.The aircraft lacks an alphanumeric designation and goes only under the name “Light Mobility Aircraft.” Fifteen will be bought to fly cargo and mobility missions in other countries to help build partnerships, said Marilyn M. Thomas, deputy for Budget in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller. The aircraft, which will be smaller than a C-27 Spartan and bigger than a C-12, will carry six passengers with crew, she said.“It is a small aircraft that can be used in the places [Area of Responsibility] where they have short landing strips that carry cargo and people, and does missions similar to the C-130, but not as large,” said Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Flowers, the deputy assistant secretary for Budget.The replacement tanker program will receive $863 million in 2011 as the Air Force plans to pick the contractor that will build the KC-X this summer. The KC-X will replace the KC-135.One of the aircraft to get cut last year was the C-17 Globemaster. Pentagon officials decided the Air Force had bought enough aircraft with the last C-17 scheduled for delivery in 2010. About $14 million is dedicated in the budget to the C-17 to shut down the production line.Related reading* DoD sets priorities with 2011 budget, QDR