FACTBOX: Budget plans for biggest U.S. weapons systems
(Reuters) - The Bush administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2009 foresees spending $104.2 billion on new weapons systems, up from $99 billion in 2008.
In coming months Congress will debate and finalize a federal budget for fiscal 2009, which begins on October 1.
Following are details from the president's budget request for some of the Pentagon's biggest weapons programs:
FIGHTER JETS, HELICOPTERS
* Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter would get $6.7 billion in fiscal 2009, up from $6.5 billion in the current year.
* The V-22 Osprey, built by Boeing Co and Bell Helicopter, a unit of Textron Inc. and recently fielded for the first time in Iraq, is slated to receive $2.7 billion, up from $2.6 billion.
* Lockheed's F-22 fighter jet gets $4.1 billion, a slight drop from $4.4 billion in fiscal 2008. Officials said the budget does not include money to shut down the F-22 production line because the supplemental budget request for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will include additional F-22s, which means production will continue beyond 2009.
ARMY PROGRAMS
* The Army's modernization effort, the Future Combat Systems program run by Boeing, is due to receive $3.5 billion, up from $3.4 billion in fiscal 2008. Continued...







