Pentagon Seeks $1.55 Billion for 2 E-7 Prototypes by Cutting Navy Procurement
Updated
Updated · Aviation Week · Jun 24
Pentagon Seeks $1.55 Billion for 2 E-7 Prototypes by Cutting Navy Procurement
3 articles · Updated · Aviation Week · Jun 24
Summary
$1.55 billion in proposed budget shifts would fund two Boeing E-7A Wedgetail prototypes and continue engineering and manufacturing development after the Pentagon had planned to cut the program.
$650.549 million would come from the Navy’s aircraft procurement account and another $899 million from the Pentagon’s other procurement account, with the overall discretionary base budget request unchanged.
The amendment does not specify which Navy aircraft line would be reduced, though the Navy had sought more funding for Northrop Grumman’s E-2D Hawkeye, which officials had cast as a stopgap for airborne early warning.
Capitol Hill opposition helped force the reversal: lawmakers added money in last year’s continuing resolution to keep the E-7 alive, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress last month that a funding amendment was coming.