Congressmen on Sunday morning passed the 2008 defense appropriations bill by a vote of 395 to 13, just squeezing it in before heading off for their August recess. The measure provides funding for 20 F-22 Raptors and 12 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (six for USAF and six for the Marine Corps) and, as we noted earlier, restores health care funding to offset the Administration’s proposed Tricare fee hike for retirees. The Senate will take up the spending measure after the break.
As the Space Force implements sweeping acquisition reforms over the next few years that will change the way it sets requirements, manages programs, and fields systems to operators, the head of its acquisition field command wants to ensure all of the change doesn’t disrupt program execution.