Navy’s F/A-XX Gets Nearly $900 Million in extra funding.>The bill states that funding granted in FY26 should be used “for the purposes of awarding the EMD contract limited to one performer in accordance with the acquisition strategy to achieve an accelerated Initial Operational Capability (IOC).”>>64623455 I FUCKING CALLED ITOnce again the boomers in the Senate clean up some of the bullshit from the Pentagon and Hegseth. Downselect any day now. E-7s are also getting a billion in extra funds.https://breakingdefense.com/2026/01/fy26-defense-bill-boosts-budget-by-8b-largely-bypassing-last-minute-28b-munitions-request/
>>64780518We already knew that this was going to happen though
>>64780518not really surprising desu
>>64780534>>64780552Everyone itt told me it was over. Hindsight is 20/20.
>>64780627retards and thirdies said it was over, anyone with half a brain knew otherwise
>>64780627>Hindsight is 20/20Congress literally came out and stated that they were going to continue funding the program despite Hegseths retardation
>>64780634>>64780639There was justified concern a couple months ago, where despite having talked a good game going into it with the Senate looking to fund the program at $1.4 billion, the draft of the final bill had only $74 million for F/A-XX. I’d particularly felt like a fool since I’d spent months posting that Congress would save it. Hopefully they do manage to force them to award a contract this time and the whole budget doesn’t get eaten paying for contract extensions again.
>>64780639>Congress literally came out and stated that they were going to continue funding the program despite Hegseths retardationThey need to do the same for the E-7 Wedgetail.
>>64780769They’ve been doing that all year. This budget keeps $1.1 billion for the program
>>64780767See, this anon gets it
>>64780769They already did that
Bros, we are totally going to war with someone soon.
>>64780769they already put the money for the E-7 in the last budget
>>64781590Unlikely, china really can't afford it (demographically), but we've certainly entered a new era where no one is pretending anymore and everyone is arming up openly. The most likely scenario is china gets more aggressive with taiwanese military excerises, but never ACTUALLY does anything except MAYBE bully ships entering taiwanese waters and do "inspections" on those ships which would piss taiwan, south korea, and japan off but PROBABLY wouldn't lead to war.This way china can show a win to the domestic audience without risking a blood bath trying to land on one of the dozen or so beachheads in Taiwan.
>>64781686My uninformed and uneducated take is that Xi is discovering what the USSR discovered; that while yes, authoritarianism can rapidly industrialize a undeveloped country, authoritarian countries always plateau economically way harder than democracies.
>>64780518Hegseth will Girhkin-post. Calling it.
>>64781686>UnlikelyChina openly states that they will militarily take Taiwan if needed/when they are ready
>>64781753You stole my fucking reaction image.
>>64781767True, but state rhetoric and military reality are two different things. China isn't a suicide cult; actually attempting a cross-strait invasion would be a massive gamble that could end Xi's rule, and potentially even the party itself. Besides, public opinion is more nuanced than state media suggests. Recent data indicates that while the Chinese public supports the idea of reunification, there is significantly less appetite for a high-casualty hot war against people they largely view as compatriots and friends.The political elites care about the One China legacy, but for the average person, the cost of a high-intensity modern conflict (especially with their demographic challenges) is likely a non-starter. They just want a decent job and financial security (just like you).
>>64781934China also has the massive issue that are their demographics. Their median age went from 38.4 in 2020 to 40.2 in 2024, the US went from 38.5 to 38.9 in that same time period. Now i'd say going to war with such a high median age is a bad idea but Russia did the same thing and despite losing a decent number of people in Ukraine their median age only increased 1.6 (40.3 to 41.9) so China is aging faster than a country in a large attritional war as a base case.
