http://news.usni.org/2015/09/29/hou...aft-procurement

The Navy had originally requested $134.7 million for its Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) system, and while the House bill would have authorized that spending, the Senate had concerns that the Navy would face delays while awaiting the Department of Defense Intelligence Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Strategic Portfolio Review. Instead, the Senate included in a Defense Department-wide research and development fund “$350.0 million for continued development and risk reduction activities of the Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS–D) aircraft that would benefit the overall UCLASS program, and $375.0 million to be used for a competitive prototyping of at least two follow-on air systems that move the Department toward a UCLASS program capable of long-range strike in a contested environment,” according to the joint statement.

“The conferees believe that the Navy should develop a penetrating, air-refuelable, unmanned carrier-launched aircraft capable of performing a broad range of missions in a non- permissive environment. The conferees believe that such an aircraft should be designed for full integration into carrier air wing operations—including strike operations—and possess the range, payload, and survivability attributes as necessary to complement such integration,” according to the statement.
“Although the Defense Department could develop land-based unmanned aircraft with attributes to support the air wing, the conferees believe that the United States would derive substantial strategic and operational benefits from operating such aircraft from a mobile seabase that is self-deployable and not subject to the caveats of a host nation.”

The document goes on to state the committees agreed on the $350 million for UCLASS, and though the $375 million for competitive prototyping did not make it into the bill, language directs the Navy to apply some of the $305-million plus-up towards prototyping.