WASHINGTON Continued budget pressure is causing senior U.S. Air Force officials to closely examine plans for several high-profile weapon programs to determine which ones the service can afford. The trade-offs are part of the Fiscal 2004 budget deliberations that have recently begun.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Air Force has decided that Boeing can offer a better deal than an EADS/Airbus team for the lease of 100 new tankers—a necessity since the service can’t afford the $15-23 billion needed to buy them. But the European consortium is still part of the long-term competition.

WASHINGTON Battle lines have been drawn between Navy and Marine Corps officials about whose aircraft programs will suffer the heaviest cuts as the Naval service tries to make its spending fit the reality of near-term budgets. Two major advocacy groups have formed—Marine Corps officials who support the short takeoff and vertical landing version of the F-35 joint strike fighter, and Navy officials who stress the need for more two-seat F/A-18F and EA-18 electronic-attack aircraft.

MOSCOW A confusing decision to dual-source a fleet of advanced trainers for the Russian air force might signal a renewed effort by the armed forces to play a stronger role in arms procurement policy and a belated attempt by the government to reconcile urgent defense needs with those of the beleaguered aerospace and defense industry.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER The space shuttle Atlantis was scheduled to be launched by early this week under even tighter security than the two previous flights since Sept. 11, as NASA moves toward an even greater security challenge in July: the planned launch of an Israeli astronaut.

Washington The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is investigating the use of smart materials to create shape-changing, multi-mission aircraft and bring about a leap in lowobservable design. The long-term vision is ambitious.