A few Senate Defense Appropriations Committee Highlights

Keep in mind the full committee still needs to meet and vote, but this sets up an interesting bit of negotiations with the house. The Senate Appropriations Committee highlights:

• Cut 1 LCS but added a 2nd DDG-51
• Killed KEI, but shifted money in BMD towards AEGIS and THAAD
• Pretty much killed the F-22, the $560m maintenance is the same as the House, leaving nothing to negotiate
• Killed the VH-71, but kept the C-17
• Buys 9 additional FA-18E/F models
• Cuts alternative JSF Engine
• Kills USAF combat search-and-rescue helicopter

And as you may have expected, offers no money to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hopefully a good news article with all the details will pop up. Sets the stage for an interesting meeting with the House.

One thing I find interesting, when it came to Navy shipbuilding, neither the House nor the Senate appropriations went with the Presidents plan. The House added a LCS, the Senate added a DDG-51. A little here, a little there...

I do wonder if the final bill looks a lot like the Presidents plan in the end. It usually does.