Senate and House appropriators agreed to back the Navy's DD(X) destroyer program and add two Littoral Combat Ships as part of a deal on the fiscal 2006 defense spending bill, which also cuts some space programs and the Army's Future Combat Systems but fully funds the F-22A Raptor and the C-17 Globemaster III.

The conference agreement details were released Dec. 18, and the House ratified the deal at 5 a.m. Dec. 19, less than six hours after the agreement's report was filed for consideration.

The deal has run into opposition in the Senate as weekend maneuvering by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), defense subcommittee chairman, added controversial Arctic oil drilling to the $453.3 billion defense bill, which includes $50 billion for operations in Iraq or Afghanistan.

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the deal funds acquisition of 24 F-22 Raptor aircraft and 15 C-17 transports, and provides multiyear procurement authority for the Globemasters. Appropriators also said their deal "realigns C-130J/KC-130 to support program sustainment," adds $65 million for procurement of one F-15E, but cuts $36.4 million from the Light Utility Helicopter request due to program delays.

The deal provides $120 million for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter advance procurement, but cuts $200 million from the program request due to "instability in the aircraft's design." The Army's Aerial Common Sensor program also is cut by $196 million due to program delays. Likewise, $40 million is cut from the Joint Unmanned Combat Air System program.

Appropriators provided $8.8 billion for shipbuilding, including adding $62 million above the request for the CVN-21 program to maintain its schedule. However, funds for complex overhaul and refueling of nuclear aircraft carriers was cut by $175 million. The lawmakers also fully funded one T-AKE dry cargo/ammunition ship.

The negotiators fully funded the Army's Stryker procurement and provided $22 million for Bradley Reactive Armor Tiles. They also allocated $3.1 billion for Future Combat Systems, an increase of $239 million over fiscal 2005 but a decrease of $236 million from the request "for excess management reserve and program overhead."

Similarly, the Joint Tactical Radio System was cut by $334 million due to program uncertainties and technical delays.

On the other hand, negotiators added $30 million the Bush administration's request to continue Joint Common Missile development, and they added an additional $55.2 million for co-production of the U.S.-Israeli Arrow missile defense system.

Missile defense, space

The lawmakers provided $7.8 billion for missile defense programs, including an additional $150 million for testing and enhancements of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense program, intended to destroy enemy missiles in the midcourse phase of flight. The GMD program held a test flight (DAILY, Dec. 15).

The conferees reduced the Transformational Satellite Communications program by $400 million due to concerns about the technical maturity of new capabilities, chopped $125.8 million from the Space Radar for excessive program growth and cut the Space Based Infrared System-High by $50 million due to excessive program growth.