Aircraft
Pentagon Preserves Development Priorities But Slashes Current Operations
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey outlined the Fiscal Year 2014 budget request on April 10 at the Pentagon. (Photo: Department of Defense)
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, left, and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey outlined the Fiscal Year 2014 budget request on April 10 at the Pentagon. (Photo: Department of Defense)

The Obama administration has proposed a $526.6 billion defense budget for Fiscal Year 2014 that continues funding for developmental priorities, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the KC-46A tanker and a future long-range bomber. The President’s base defense budget, released two months late on April 10, does not include funding for overseas contingency operations in Afghanistan and does not reflect ongoing, across-the-board budget cuts mandated by the “sequestration” process that began in March. It contains “balanced deficit reduction proposals that are more than sufficient” to allow Congress to replace or repeal those cuts, according to the Department of Defense (DOD).