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Air Force

National Security Minibus Spending Bill Funds Extra F-35s, F-15s for Air Force

By Vivienne Machi

Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

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National Security Minibus Spending Bill Funds Extra F-35s, F-15s for Air Force

The F-35A flies its aerial demonstration debut at the 2017 Paris Air Show. (Photo: Ethan Stokes/Lockheed Martin)

Appropriators provided the Defense Department with nearly two dozen extra F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the fiscal year 2020 defense spending bill than were originally requested and filled multiple key Air Force procurement and research-and-development requests. The national security minibus includes funding for 98 F-35s – 20 more than were requested – for $9.3 billion, including 62 Air Force F-35A variants, 16 Marine Corps F-35B variants and 20 F-35C variants. Lawmakers note in the report accompanying the bill, which was…

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