FORT WORTH, TX -- AgustaWestland chose the toned-down, budget-conscious gathering of the Army Aviation Association of America this week to officially lift the curtain on its contender for the Army's Armed Aerial Scout helicopter program.

The Air Force is beefing up its purchase plan for the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile by more than 50 percent following a restart of the missile production line, and the service is also increasing its stockpile of air-to-air and cruise missiles in support of the Defense Department's pivot to the Asia Pacific region.

The Army has moved to terminate its Vertical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle program nearly two years after the service and the Navy announced -- at a high point of the project -- plans to explore the possibility of a joint project, tantalizing industry with near-term spending plans of more than $1 billion for this capability.

A top Air Force official said today that the high levels of demand and funding for resupply and transport services in Afghanistan likely will keep the Air Force's mobility units from budget-driven groundings.

The Army plans to dramatically scale back its planned procurement of the LUH-72A Lakota helicopter, according to the service's fiscal year 2014 budget request, but Lakota maker EADS plans to push to reverse the plan, the company's CEO said.

The Navy will ask Congress to approve a multibillion-dollar reprogramming request in the next few weeks to pay for operations and maintenance accounts depleted through sequestration cuts levied in fiscal year 2013, Rear Adm. Joseph Mulloy, the Navy's deputy assistant secretary of the budget, said today while unveiling the fiscal year 2014 budget.

The Air Force has requested a topline budget of $144 billion, and a "blue" operational budget of $114 billion for fiscal year 2014, to continue funding top priorities like the Joint Strike Fighter and KC-46 tanker programs.

An ongoing Pentagon review is examining how the Defense Department would weather more massive budget cuts if Congress permits another round of sequestration in fiscal year 2014 -- spending reductions not accounted for in the Obama administration's new $526.6 billion defense budget request, the nation's top military officer said today.

The Pentagon's fiscal year 2014 budget proposal includes some dramatic swings in funding for a handful of key weapons development efforts, including a 30 percent cut to the Air Force's new bomber program, a 205 percent increase for the Navy's Offensive Anti-Surface Weapon, and a 100 percent boost for the Joint Air-To-Ground Missile -- a program nearly terminated in 2011.

The Precision Tracking Space System is one of the highest-profile casualties of the Defense Department's fiscal year 2014 budget request, with DOD officials citing high cost and risk in announcing the missile defense program's cancellation today.

The Obama administration today unveiled a $527 billion fiscal year 2014 military spending request -- a package subject to $52 billion in substantial cuts if Congress and the White House are unable to break a nearly two-year-old stalemate over how to reduce the federal deficit. The budget proposal includes an $88 billion placeholder to fund overseas contingency operations, however Pentagon officials said they need additional time to finalize an FY-14 war-spending request.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- The Air Force has resumed full-capacity missile-warning coverage at a radar site in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska due to North Korea's recent ballistic missile threats, according to the chief of the Air Force's space mission.

The Army has zeroed out funding to procure new AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters in its fiscal year 2014 budget request, choosing instead to pursue only remanufactured variants in keeping with its new equipment modernization strategy, according to internal documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.

The Defense Department’s fiscal year 2014 budget request, slated to be unveiled today, would end production of Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned aircraft, ramp up funding for C-130J Hercules cargo planes and maintain plans to buy 29 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, according to budget documents reviewed by InsideDefense.com.

The Army is seeking $130 billion in base budget funding for fiscal year 2014 -- $5 billion less than requested in FY-13, according to internal budget documents obtained by InsideDefense.com.

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO. -- A much-anticipated Space Fence contract award could be delayed as the Air Force works to prioritize its spending in a time of fiscal uncertainty, a top service official said today.

Air Force officials this week went a long way toward defining the terms of a competition for sustaining missile-warning equipment that is set to take place in 2014 by detailing the contracting strategy and conflict-of-interest standards the service plans to use for the acquisition, known as SMORS.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday approved the final funding for the trinational Medium Extended Air Defense System, ending a period of intense haggling over the program's future between Pentagon leaders and critics in Congress, InsideDefense.com has learned.

The Navy is negotiating with Sikorsky to acquire four additional CH-53K helicopters for the Marine Corps, which would double early aircraft orders and raise the acquisition objective the $26 billion program considered a high priority by the company and the Marines, according to government and industry officials.

Northrop Grumman is preparing to deliver to the Air Force an unspecified number of Global Hawk unmanned aircraft modified to navigate the sloped runways of Guam.