The F-35 strike fighter, Long Range Strike Bomber, and the KC-46 tanker all receive priority procurement funds under the newly proposed omnibus spending package, which passed the House Wednesday evening. The omnibus includes some $92.9 billion for procurement. Specifically, it fully funds all 29 F-35 strike fighters across the four services with a production ramp to 39 F-35s in Fiscal 2015. However, the omnibus only funds 17 F-35As, two less than the Air Force original requested for Fiscal 2014, Capt. Erika Yepsen told the Daily Report. It also fully funds USAF’s request for the KC-46 tanker program and adds $92 million to the topline for the Long Range Strike Bomber program. The omnibus grants USAF the authority to proceed with the Combat Rescue Helicopter—something that would not have been possible under a full-year continuing resolution—providing $333.5 million in appropriations for the program in Fiscal 2014, while fully funding the Air Force’s C-130J and CV-22 Osprey requests. (SAC omnibus summary)
The Space Force must invest in high-level training based on the lessons learned from an unprecedented level of electronic warfare (EW) used by both Russia and Ukraine in the conflict there, one of the service’s top EW leaders said on April 24. “What we have seen in the Ukraine-Russia conflict…