And for North Dakota, Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan said he has glommed $1 million in the 2006 defense spending bill to create a center of excellence at the University Of North Dakota to support the new unmanned aerial vehicle destined for Grand Forks AFB, N.D. Indeed, Air Force officials extolled the advantage accrued to Grand Forks from its proximity to UND’s School of Aerospace Science. Quoting Dorgan: “This program is another example of how we can strengthen our country while linking up our existing economic and research engines to create new opportunities for our state.” Dorgan is not done. There’s also money to come from the FAA for this UAV center of excellence. Of course, Nevada still has the Pentagon’s UAV center of excellence.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.