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The Pentagon unveiled details of its $961 billion budget request on Thursday, a budget roadmap that may deprioritize new F-35 fighter jets in favor of next-generation aircraft and drones.
The budget would reach that figure through $848.3 billion in its discretionary defense budget and an additional $113 billion through reconciliation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” the Trump administration is trying to muscle through Congress right now.
The parallel budget requests include $25 billion for Golden Dome, President Donald Trump’s homeland missile defense initiative.
And as the Trump administration moves forward with the Air Force’s 6th-gen fighter jet, dubbed the F-47, the budget calls for a reduction in the next purchase of F-35s from 74 to 47. It requests $3.4 billion for the F-47 program.
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Defense budget prioritizes drones and missiles while cutting F-35 orders from 74 to 47. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alora R. Blosch)
Officials are still unsure whether the Navy’s next-gen fighter jet, F/A-XX, will move forward.
“Waiting for a decision from the secretary of the Navy, secretary of defense, and the president,” a defense official told reporters. “That’s an active conversation, whether to continue with the program or not.”
The program will proceed right now with “minimal funding” for design, the official said.
Asked whether other service branches may get a different variant of the F-47 instead of entirely separate programs, the official said the idea is under consideration.
“I would say pretty much everything is under consideration to get the [tactical] air capability that our war fighters need as quickly as possible, and that’s really what we’re looking at the most, is the schedule of all these programs.”
The budget requests funding for three new Navy ships through the discretionary request and another 16…
