Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), head of the defense appropriations subcommittee, believes that Congress will include 10 additional C-17s in the Fiscal 2010 defense spending bill, but he wants Boeing to trim the expected per aircraft price tag, reports CongressDaily. Murtha thinks Boeing should trim about $25 million per aircraft, harking back to the last multiyear procurement figure of $200 million per copy. CongressDaily report also noted that Murtha believes the final bill will include funding, as did the companion policy bill, for the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136 engine for the F-35. Unlike the “strongly objects” position on additional C-17s, the Administration has said the alternate engine might engage a veto, but CQ Today reports that the President Obama now may sign the policy bill with the F136 funding intact—waiting to kill it through the spending bill that will follow shortly.
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
