Congress cutting funds for Sikorsky helicopters

Congress plans to cut funding for Black Hawk helicopters manufactured by Shelton-based Sikorsky Aircraft, according to the just-released 2017 draft of the National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy goals and spending targets for the year that began Oct. 1.
The $618 billion NDAA limits the number of Sikorsky helicopters that the Pentagon can buy next year, providing $976.1 million for 36 Black Hawks, down from the $1.77 billion for 107 Black Hawks that the Defense Department bought this year. The NDAA also authorizes spending on 63 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in 2017, down from 66 this year; East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney makes engines for those planes.
The bill reauthorized the two-per-year purchase of Virginia-class submarines and added $85 million to the submarines”™ procurement fund; the subs are made jointly by Groton-based General Dynamics Electric Boat and Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.