Defense budget prioritizes drones and missiles while cutting F-35 orders from 74 to 47. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alora R. Blosch)
Officials are still unsure whether the Navy’s next-gen fighter jet, F/A-XX, will move forward.
"Waiting for a decision from the secretary of the Navy, secretary of defense, and the president," a defense official told reporters. "That's an active conversation, whether to continue with the program or not."
The program will proceed right now with "minimal funding" for design, the official said.
Asked whether other service branches may get a different variant of the F-47 instead of entirely separate programs, the official said the idea is under consideration.
"I would say pretty much everything is under consideration to get the [tactical] air capability that our war fighters need as quickly as possible, and that's really what we're looking at the most, is the schedule of all these programs."
The budget requests funding for three new Navy ships through the discretionary request and another 16 through the reconciliation request.
REPUBLICANS SQUABBLE OVER TRUMP SPENDING PLAN AS FISCAL YEAR 2026 LOOMS: 'STAY UNTIL WE PASS IT'
In an ideal world, Congress would pass 12 separate appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But in recent years, it has often punted the headache down the road. (Reuters/Al Drago)
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The E-7 radar plane will be cut, the senior defense official confirmed, "due to significant delays with cost increases from $588 million to $724 million per aircraft and survivability concerns in this contested environment."
In an ideal world, Congress would pass 12 separate appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But in recent years, it has often punted the headache down the road with continuing resolutions, or bills that temporarily fund the government at the previous year’s levels, and omnibuses, sprawling bills that contain funding for all 12 agencies in one up-or-down vote.
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