The House Armed Services Committee has unveiled a policy bill authorizing $515 billion in U.S. Defense Department base budget and another $89.2 billion in overseas war funds for 2016 fiscal year, The Hill newspaper reported Monday. Kristina Wong writes the House’s 2016 National Defense Authorization Act includes provisions to bar …

The House Armed Services Committee’s tactical air and land forces subcommittee plans to include additional F-35B and F/A-18E/F aircraft and upgraded Stryker armored vehicles in the defense authorization bill for fiscal 2016, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday. Sydney Freedberg Jr. writes that the House panel wants to add as much as six of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35B jets …

U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has said he believes the Navy’s Lockheed Martin-built F-35s should be the last type of manned aerial platform in the U.S. naval aircraft fleet, USNI News reported Wednesday. “Unmanned systems, particularly autonomous ones, have to be the new normal in ever-increasing areas,” Mabus told his audience …

The U.S. State Department has cleared a potential $57 million foreign military sale of Lockheed Martin-built Hellfire II air-to-surface missiles to Egypt, Defense News reported Wednesday. Aaron Mehta writes Egypt is ordering up to 356 AGM-114K/R3 Hellfires from the U.S. government to aid the country’s national security efforts. The approval …

Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has asked Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to prioritize the Unmanned Carrier Launched Surveillance and Strike program, Breaking Defense reported Tuesday. Colin Clark writes that the program has faced delays over concerns on the balance of requirements in weapons payload size, operational range …

Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, told a House subcommittee Wednesday that the military service needs to revamp an existing launch capability agreement in order to give companies a fair chance to compete, Reuters reported Wednesday. Andrea Shalal writes Hyten said the Air Force acquisition officials are …

The Missile Defense Agency recently led a flight test of the tracking and engagement functions of the Lockheed Martin-built Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense weapon system with three of Raytheon‘s Standard Missile-3 as simulated targets. MDA said Feb. 24 that the test, called Flight Test Other-19, simulated a raid by three ballistic missile targets and the subsequent …

U.S. Navy Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, has told a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the Air Force needs to replace the ageing B-2 and the B-52 aircraft with new aircraft, the Air Force Times reported Thursday. Brian Everstine writes the Air Force is set to begin …

The U.S. Air Force is seeking extension of a congressionally approved 2019 deadline for the completion of an American-made rocket engine for use in national security missions, Reuters reported Wednesday. Air Force Secretary Deborah James told a Senate defense subcommittee that the service is unlikely to meet the schedule as …

The U.S. Navy is soliciting industry input for its plan to install an electro-optical sensor and targeting system in the service’s special operations aircraft, Defense Systems reported Tuesday. A Naval Surface Warfare Center notice says the service wants information on a gimbaled system that is compatible with the Lockheed Martin-built C-130J in …