The Bush Administration has requested $93.7 billion in Fiscal 2009 for Veterans Affairs, bettering the 2008 spending level by $3.4 billion, according to a VA release. However, as Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, says the budget request falls short when “basic factors, such as medical care inflation and other increases in VA’s operational costs are taken into account.” In his view, “It just is not enough.” Akaka says the VA budget doesn’t provide for “needed increases” in areas to support veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. Akaka’s counterpart in the House, Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.) has similar doubts. At a House Veterans’ Affairs panel hearing last week, Filner noted that the Administration’s requested increase for medical care “has come at the expense of other VA programs,” including cuts in construction and medical and prosthetic research.
The Air Force wants a new, affordable, air-launched standoff cruise missile ready to field in 2033. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center announced April 6 it will hold an industry day event to conduct market research on the Standoff Attack Weapon, or SoAW, on June 17 at Eglin Air…