Nuclear Bomb Program Takes Hit in Defense Spending Bill
August 1, 2013
Megan Scully
Senate appropriators took another swipe at the Obama administration’s efforts to begin an extensive overhaul of the B61 nuclear bomb, proposing only $6.2 million for the Air Force to continue development of a new tail kit for the weapon.
The Pentagon had requested $67.8 million for its portion of the B61 program, following the decision late last year to award Boeing Co. a $178 million contract for the tail kit, which will replace parachutes on the decades-old gravity bomb.
Citing “acquisition accountability,” appropriators also slashed $10 million from efforts to make the B61 compatible with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Senior military officials have yet to officially determine whether a later version of the F-35 need to be capable of dropping the nuclear bomb, the committee said in its report on the defense spending bill.
“Therefore, the committee recommends no funding for F-35 dual capable aircraft,” according to the report.
