Appropriators also cut a major chunk—$270 million—out of R&D for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. They cited “instability in the aircraft’s design” as the chief problem.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3