Leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees announced $5 billion in cuts to the Fiscal 2016 defense policy bill Tuesday, including $230 million from the Long-Range Strike Bomber program. The reductions, which impact more than 100 separate programs across the Defense Department, bring the defense authorization bill in line with the two-year budget deal signed by President Obama on Monday. The bomber reductions are due to the months-long delay of the LRS-B contract, according to a breakdown of the reductions posted on the HASC website. Northrop Grumman won the multi-billion dollar bomber contract, originally expected in the spring, on Oct. 27. A committee aide told Politico the reductions to the LRS-B program do not represent a lack of support from Capitol Hill.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.