
House and Senate lawmakers in the negotiated version of their respective fiscal 2019 defense policy bills have agreed to prohibit the Air Force from retiring its current fleet of ground-surveillance planes until 2028 while authorizing funding to advance the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) update program, according to Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.)Scott, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a Monday statement that the negotiated National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) cuts $623 million in funding from the…