Despite a reduction in the Pentagon’s budget request for the development of prompt global strike technology in this fiscal year, Congress committed some $179 million for these activities in the final version of the Fiscal 2012 defense appropriations legislation. In the conference report accompanying this bill, lawmakers said they cut the Defense Department’s $204 million request by $25 million “based on program delays caused by two consecutive flight test failures” of DARPA’s Hypersonic Technology Vehicle-2. The most recent HTV-2 flight test was in August. However, they said they “remain supportive” of PGS development. They stipulated that the funding reduction should not be at the expense of the Army’s Advanced Hypersonic Weapon program that conducted a successful flight test in November. PGS is a concept under which the United States is able to strike at any high-value target on the globe within about one hour by using weapons like ultra-fast missiles. Congress rolled the defense spending legislation into an omnibus bill, the 2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act, that President Obama signed into law on Dec. 23.
Work Has Begun to Adapt Qatari 747 to Fly as Air Force One
Sept. 15, 2025
The Air Force has started modifying a Boeing 747 donated by Qatar for "executive airlift," a spokesperson said Sept. 15. President Donald Trump has said he wants to fly the jet as “Air Force One” since new presidential transports, held up by delays, won't be ready until after his term…
