The Pentagon is asking for $1.2 billion over the next five years to create a “next-generation” launch system program that would include developing propulsion systems.

With F-35 delays and continued expanded reliance on F-18 aircraft, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps are working hard to make the legacy Hornets last much longer than they were meant to, budget documents show.

The savings will also help preserve budgets for the new T-X trainer and the Joint Stars Recapitalization (JStars Recap) program, both of which were threatened with delay.

The U.S. Army’s aviation spending request for fiscal 2017 is $3.6 billion, down more than $2 billion from the $5.9 billion in the defense bill approved by Congress last year. However, it remains the largest segment of the Army’s $15.1 billion procurement request.

As much as RDT&E may look like a relative winner in budget plans, procurement plans have been scaled back to help meet overall Pentagon budget caps.

MDA Director Vice Adm. James Syring says the agency is accepting some risk in reducing interceptor buys for the Aegis combat missile defense system and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in fiscal 2017.

Substantial hits to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program are among the biggest changes in the fiscal 2017 procurement budget.

The U.S. Air Force insists that the classified bomber program’s schedule has not slipped, but the service has adopted a new independent cost estimate.