Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.)—a staunch buy American advocate—has agreed to advance to conference legislation meant to reform the approval process for selling US companies with a role in national security to foreign owners. In a statement, Hunter acknowledged that the National Security Foreign Investment and Strengthened Transparency Act (HR 5337) has addressed the “majority” of his House Armed Services Committee’s “major concerns.” He noted that House Majority Whip Roy Blunt “has assured us that we’ll work out our remaining concerns.” Controversy sparked over the Administration’s approval process last fall when it approved sale of some US port operations to Dubai Ports World and later when another facet of Dubai put in a bid for a British firm’s US-based plant that manufactures turbine engine blades for US military aircraft.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.