Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) announced Tuesday that he has “received confirmation” from the White House’s budget director that the continuing resolution designed to keep the government afloat through early next year “will continue funding” the F136 engine program. Proponents of F136 cancelation, Brown stated in a release, “had incorrectly argued that a CR would not require the Administration to fund the program.” Over Defense Department objections, Congress appropriated funds in Fiscal 2010 to continue the F136’s maturation. This engine, if it isn’t axed, would compete against Pratt & Whitney’s F135 to power future F-35 strike fighters. Congress has drafted the latest CR to fund government operations until March 4, 2011, in the absence of completed Fiscal 2011 appropriations bills for the federal departments. The Senate on Tuesday passed the CR by a 79-16 vote. The House subsequently approved the resolution 193 to 165. GE develops the F136 in Evendale, Ohio, near Cincinnati.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.