The Air Force poured a bucket of cold water on a supposed major policy shift on satellite use. The Wall Street Journal last week reported that the Bush Administration wanted to combine national security and civilian payloads on single, large satellite platforms as a money-saving measure. According to Lt. Col. Karen Finn, the Air Force’s spokesman on space matters, that report was dead wrong. She said officials who talked with the Journal discussed joint use—Pentagon and CIA—of one space system, the Space Radar. “We were talking about a very specific system,” Finn emphasized, adding that an overall shift in satellite policy “was not talked about.”
Contracts for F-35 airframes in Lot 18 and 19 should be signed in the spring, but an engine deal is still not in hand and could take months longer. The delays don't seem to be driven by anticipation of how the new Trump administration will influence the program.