MILITARY PAY HIKES? DEFENSE BILL ALSO INCLUDES FUNDING FOR AREA PROJECTS.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Full funding for two major fighter jet projects, money to continue developing unmanned aircraft, and a pay raise for military personnel will all be part of the 2004 defense appropriations awaiting final approval by Congress.

Senate and House conferees have agreed to a $368 billion defense appropriations bill that provides for a 4.1 percent average pay raise for military personnel and provides funding for Antelope Valley projects, including the joint strike fighter and the F/A-22 fighter.

The bill includes $4.3 billion for the development of the F-35 joint strike fighter and $3.6 billion for the production of the F/A-22 fighter.

The F-35 is intended to be a multiservice fighter that would replace the F-16 and the F/A-18. Northrop Grumman, a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin on the F-35, plans to assemble fuselage sections of the joint strike fighter in Palmdale. A large portion of the flight testing of that aircraft would also be done at Edwards. Components for the F/A-22 are built by Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, and the jet is flight-tested at Edwards Air Force Base.

The bill includes $1.4 billion for production and development of unmanned aircraft, an increase of nearly $225 million from the 2003 defense budget. Those funds include the production of four Global Hawk aircraft, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft built in Palmdale.

The committee also provides $270 million for continued development of Navy and Air Force Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles, unmanned jet fighters. Testing of an Air Force version of the aircraft is being conducted at Edwards.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color in AV edition only) Flying over Edwards Air Force Base is an F/A-22, which the defense bill would fund.

U.S. Air Force