House and Senate conferees completed work on the 2008 defense appropriations bill, providing about $460 billion in spending authority. Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the defense panel of the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement that the agreement “achieves a balance” between near-term deployment requirements and modernization to meet future threats. The measure is almost $40 billion more than enacted for Fiscal 2007 and does not include funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom. And, here’s the Senate Appropriations Committee summary.
The first flight of the secretive B-21 bomber has slipped to mid-2022, but the program is moving along well, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden said in an exclusive interview. The second copy of the B-21, which will be used for structural testing, is now on the production…