Late Thursday afternoon, the full Senate approved the conference report for the Fiscal 2010 defense authorization bill by a vote of 68 to 29, sending President Obama a measure that still includes the alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The question is: Will the President sign the policy bill as is—with the provision to continue the General Electric-Rolls Royce F136 as an alternate to the Pratt & Whitney F135 that currently powers the F-35—and reserve a veto for the spending bill (see above). Stay tuned for more coverage of policy bill provisions.
As it develops new weapons to attack satellites, the U.S. Space Force is focused more on ground-based efforts where the technology is more mature, the service’s top general said April 3.