The Pentagon is belatedly knocking on doors on Capitol Hill, trying to convince lawmakers not to gut several high-priority modernization programs in the FY 2006 budget. The Senate is angling to take $270 million from development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, arguing that the program’s future is uncertain. (Flight testing on the aircraft is scheduled for early 2006.) The political newspaper The Hill maintains that members of Congress are growing antsy about cost overruns and delays in several large programs. DOD officials are trying to anesthetize the politicians by calling for $8 billion in cuts next year, but the tactic might not succeed.
The Pentagon agency charged with building and operating U.S. spy satellites recently declassified some details about a Cold War-era surveillance program called Jumpseat—a revelation it says sheds light on the importance of satellite imaging technology and how it has advanced in the decades since.
