President Obama signed into law H.R. 3979, the Fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill, announced the White House. The legislation authorizes $585 billion for the Defense Department and the Energy Department’s national security programs in this fiscal year, which runs through Sept. 30, 2015. This includes $495.9 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, $63.7 billion for overseas contingency operations, and $17.5 billion for DOE’s nuclear weapons and defense activities. Obama signed the bill into law on Dec. 19, one week after the Senate passed it, and some two weeks after the House approved it. On Dec. 16, Obama signed into law the $1.1 trillion spending bill that includes some $554 billion for DOD in Fiscal 2015.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
