Officials at Andersen AFB, Guam, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 12 to celebrate the opening of the new hangar that will shelter the base’s RQ-4 Global Hawks when the high-flying unmanned reconnaissance aircraft start arriving there next year for beddown. Black Construction began the $41 million project in September 2007 and completed it in May on time, Guam’s Pacific Daily News reported June 13. The new facility, at about the size of a regulation football field, is the largest hangar ever built on the base. Inside it has more than 47,000 square feet to accommodate up to six Global Hawks and an additional 11,500 square feet for maintenance shops, working space, and command and control facilities. The first Global Hawks are expected next spring at Andersen, with Global Hawk personnel to begin arriving this fall, according to PDN. (See also Guam news network KUAM TV’s June 12 report.)
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.