There’s an amendment in the offing that would prohibit transfer sole control of the Joint Combat Aircraft program to the Air Force. Roxana Tiron of The Hill reports that Sen. Clair McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Sen. Mark (D-Ark.) plan to introduce such an amendment to the defense authorization bill, yet to be taken up by the full Senate. They apparently have swung the powerful National Guard Caucus to their point of view. The head of the National Guard Bureau, Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum this month told The Hill that he feared shifting funding and control to the Air Force alone would slow the program. Also there’s the little matter of a protest over the contract award.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
