Engineers are looking to add an F-22 parking pad with apron space for 14 aircraft at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, announced the Army Corps of Engineers. The $10 million to $15 million project includes construction of a 15,000-square-yard concrete pad, aircraft rinse facility, and adjoining tarmac taxiways, according to the pre-solicitation documents. The corps intends to formally issue a request for proposals under a firm-fixed pricing arrangement at the end of the month. Once awarded, the project is scheduled to take roughly a year. F-22s assigned to the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 199th Fighter Squadron and active duty associate 19th FS arrived at Pearl Harbor-Hickam some 18 months ago. The units broke ground on a new F-22 maintenance facility on base last July.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.