Air Force plans to increase flying hours and to improve parts availability took a hit June 24 as the House Appropriations Committee approved a spending bill cutting back both initiatives.
Congress
The Pentagon is asking to shift money from the Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye and classified Air Force accounts to fund a $1.55 billion spending plan for its revived E-7 Wedgetail program in fiscal 2027, according to budget amendments submitted to Congress last week.
The annual defense budget is prepared by the Department of Defense, reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, and then submitted to Congress. Yet it is Congress that has the final say. The House and Senate must...
With key members of Congress wavering on the possibility of a $350 billion defense reconciliation bill, defense experts told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Pentagon is likely drawing up budget backup plans—but such plans would face hard choices between high-end weapons and low-cost ...
Lawmakers on a key Senate panel want to put their stamp on the Space Force’s missile warning plans, pushing for more satellite sensors that can detect and track hypersonic and ballistic missiles in real time and attempting to block an effort to cancel satellites that ...
A congressional plan to replace the special operations aircraft destroyed during the rescue of a downed F-15E aviator in Iran would take all the money the Pentagon had planned to spend on another special ops plane, the OA-1K Skyraider II.
The Air Force would be able to sign multiyear contracts to buy F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and F-15EX Eagle II jets under the Senate’s version of a key defense policy bill.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach recently called the MQ-9 Reaper the “most valuable player” of Operation Epic Fury. Now the Senate Armed Services Committee wants the Air Force to build up its Reaper fleet.
The Pentagon could have the option to create a new combatant command devoted to unmanned and autonomous systems if a provision in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s annual defense policy bill becomes law. The legislation is one of several moves lawmakers have proposed in recent ...
