It now appears the Air Force is working with the Army to try to get Senate authorizers to restore funding the Senate Armed Services Committee cut for the Joint Cargo Aircraft, reports the Congressional newspaper The Hill. The Senate panel cut Army JCA funding from its markup of the 2007 defense authorization bill, opting to wait until the Army and Air Force both work out plans for the program. The Army, however, already has defined its needs and wants to field a new aircraft sooner than the Air Force.
Space Force acquisition leaders were already looking to see if they could shift some of their biggest programs to use commercial services or technology, but one of President Donald Trump's executive orders, signed April 9, that could super-charge that effort.