The Pentagon is seemingly looking to buck congressional intent when it comes to two key aircraft programs, setting the Trump administration on a collision course with leading defense hawks once again.
At the heart of the brewing budgetary battle is a sixth-generation Navy fighter jet and a replacement radar plane — initiatives that lawmakers have repeatedly and loudly championed despite past Defense Department efforts to slow walk or stall them.
Rather than heeding the Hill, DOD appears to be doubling down on its original approach, according to initial budget documents posted late Friday. Known as “dash -1s,” the tables highlight total obligational authority for procurement, research and development and the other military spending accounts.
