The House Armed Services Committee will begin marking up its version of the Fiscal 2014 defense authorization bill on May 22, announced committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). The intelligence, emerging threats and capabilities panel; military personnel panel; seapower and projection forces panel; and strategic forces panel will convene on that day for their respective marks-ups, states McKeon’s April 25 release. On the following day, May 23, the readiness panel and the tactical air and land forces panel will meet. The full committee mark-up is scheduled for June 5. The HASC will post its marks and bill-related information at this webpage, according to the release.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.