SpaceNews.com
• Sandra Erwin
The Space Force estimates Boeing’s seven-satellite Evolved Strategic SATCOM program at $11.6 billion while preparing to add launch providers to National Security Space Launch and steer SBIR awards toward operational needs. Separately, the Air Force awarded about $766 million for B-52H radar and modernization work.
Defense Budgets & Spending
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Congress is considering funding for Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail, the airborne early warning and control aircraft slated to replace the aging E-3 Sentry. The effort places the program’s future in the legislative process as lawmakers weigh resources for a next-generation command-and-control capability.
The Space Force estimates Boeing’s seven-satellite Evolved Strategic SATCOM program at $11.6 billion while preparing to add launch providers to National Security Space Launch and steer SBIR awards toward operational needs. Separately, the Air Force awarded about $766 million for B-52H radar and modernization work.
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The Pentagon has signed seven-year framework agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Lockheed Martin to expand the industrial base for air-defense interceptors. The deals target a tripling of Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement production capacity and a fourfold increase in THAAD missile output.
Greece is moving ahead with a €3.1 billion program to establish an integrated nationwide air defense network using Israeli systems. The architecture is intended to protect against aircraft, drones and missiles, representing a major expansion of Greece’s layered air defense capabilities.
The Pentagon’s latest assessment increases the F-35 program’s estimated acquisition cost from $485.2 billion in 2023 to $536.2 billion. Development costs account for roughly $19 billion of the increase, while procurement costs add $32 billion; unit costs are projected to rise across all three variants.
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The sole-source agreement covers F-15 production, modernization and sustainment for U.S. and foreign customers, extending Boeing’s fighter work through 2037. The defense-industrial activity also includes Raytheon’s $50 million Mississippi expansion and Lockheed Martin’s proposed $1.8 billion industrial package tied to Peru’s F-16 purchase.
Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said fiscal discipline remains the Labour government’s “bedrock” while declining to commit to a defense-spending target he had previously endorsed. The position introduces uncertainty over the government’s defense funding trajectory as competing budget priorities are weighed.
Poland is considering acquiring Airbus A400M heavy transport aircraft using European financing, potentially adding a strategic airlift capability through a deal separate from its ongoing competition for a new medium transport aircraft. The two procurement tracks could address distinct requirements within Poland’s military airlift modernization.
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