The House Appropriations defense subcommittee’s (HAC-D) mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill is encouraging the U.S. Air Force to partner with industry for a turn-key solution for undergraduate pilot training.

Fiscal 2021 may be the last time the Pentagon will be able to circumvent its base budget caps by filtering funds through the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account.

The Pentagon awarded $13.4 million under Defense Production Act Title III as an investment in the U.S. small unmanned aircraft system (sUAS) industrial base.

House appropriators are concerned the U.S. Army has not clearly defined the acquisition strategy for mission equipment payloads and sensors for its Future Vertical Lift family of rotorcraft.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee (HAC-D) is fully funding the beleaguered F-35 logistics system in its mark of the fiscal 2021 defense funding bill, but lawmakers are blasting the program and describing similarities between it and the troubled KC-46A tanker.

The Democrat-controlled House Appropriations defense subcommittee agreed to support the higher development cost for the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon in the fiscal 2021 spending bill, but the members do not “intend to approve funding for further cost increases” beyond the latest estimate of $1.364 billion. 

Spain is in negotiations with Airbus to acquire at least 20 new-build Eurofighter Typhoons to replace early model F/A-18 Hornets based in the Canary Islands.

The U.S. approval, as expected, clears the path for the Japan Ministry of Defense to become the largest customer for the F-35 outside the U.S. and expand the customer base for the short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing F-35B.