USAF evidently believes that relocation of its 46th Test Wing from Eglin AFB, Fla., to Edwards AFB, Calif., would cut net spending by more than half a billion dollars. According to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), he was given that explanation by Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, overseer of the wing. “He wanted to alert me as to a proposed Air Force effort to cut the test and evaluation budget by $581 million,” said Nelson at a July 18 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “He was given a $1.5 billion cut to make. Roughly one-third of it would come from deactivating the 46th Test Wing and closing a number of sophisticated testing facilities.” The 46th Test Wing employs 3,400 in Florida. Word of its possible demise has roiled local Florida politics, but the Air Force has announced no firm decision.
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.