Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) says that last week’s markup of the 2008 defense authorization bill by the Senate Armed Services Committee does not include additional funding he wanted for Cannon AFB, N.M., to support the switch to Air Force Special Operations Command. In a statement, Domenici said he and other New Mexico lawmakers had requested authorization for an additional $68 million for unfunded military construction requirements. He said it would have been “helpful for the committee to address these needs initially, but this is just one step on the long road toward the final FY2008 defense bills becoming law.” Domenici also didn’t get the $19.5 million he wanted to jump-start the beddown of the F-22 at Holloman AFB, N.M. He said the funding would have ensured “as seamless a transition as possible,” but the base is “on track to receive F-22s in a timely manner to replace F-117s.”
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.