The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved its version of a fiscal year 2016 defense spending bill that would fund the acquisition of 12 F/A-18 Super Hornet jets from Boeing and six F-35 planes from Lockheed Martin, Reuters reported Thursday.Andrea Shalal writes the bill would give $1.2 billion to the U.S. Navy for the Super Hornets and $1 billion to the Marine Corps for the F-35s.
The bill also puts $355 million into the maintenance of U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolts and adds $800 million to the proposed budget for Virginia-class submarines from General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries, the report said.
Colin Clark also reports on Breaking Defense that the Senate committee’s markup cuts $460 million from the Long Range Strike Bomber, the same amount that the House version removed for the program.
SASC Chair Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) also added to the cyber-related Third Offset Strategy and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and reduced DoD’s headquarters staff budget, the report said.
