Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced Tuesday that he has “received confirmation” from the White House’s budget director that the continuing resolution designed to keep the government afloat through early next year “will continue funding” the F136 engine program. Proponents of F136 cancelation, Brown stated in a release, “had incorrectly argued that a CR would not require the Administration to fund the program.” Over Defense Department objections, Congress appropriated funds in Fiscal 2010 to continue the F136’s maturation. This engine, if it isn’t axed, would compete against Pratt & Whitney’s F135 to power future F-35 strike fighters. Congress has drafted the latest CR to fund government operations until March 4, 2011, in the absence of completed Fiscal 2011 appropriations bills for the federal departments. The Senate on Tuesday passed the CR by a 79-16 vote. The House subsequently approved the resolution 193 to 165. GE develops the F136 in Evendale, Ohio, near Cincinnati.
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.
