The intense wrangling going on among the Pentagon, industry, and Congress over the fate of the F136 engine is still not resolved after Wednesday’s markup of the Fiscal 2010 defense spending bill by the Senate Appropriation Committee’s defense panel. The subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), did not include funding for the F136, which GE and Rolls Royce are developing to compete against Pratt & Whitney’s F135 to power future lots of F-35s. But the House did include F136 funding in its version of the 2010 defense appropriations bill, thus setting up a showdown when the Senate and House meet in conference to hash out the final version of the bill. Similarly, on the authorization side, the House would fund the F136, while the Senate would not, leaving the issue open for the policy bill conference. So stay tuned. (Subcommittee markup summary)
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.