A $76,000 
restoration of several aircraft at the Peterson Air and Space Museum on the grounds of Peterson AFB, Colorado, is expected to be complete by the start of the new year. NORAD and US Northern Command funded the project, which has paid special attention to a static display of an F-101 Voodoo all-weather interceptor. Workers are repainting it in the colors and markings of the 13th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, restoring it to “its glory days as a first-line, tip-of-the-spear protector of America nearly 50 years ago,” according to Peterson officials. “This aircraft needed work for a very long time,” said Jeff Nash, museum deputy director. Also getting facelifts are an EC-121 Warning Star, F-4 Phantom, F-86 Sabre, F-94 Starfire, F-106 Delta Dart, a P-40 Warhawk, and T-33 Shooting Star. Officials also did a complete makeover on a MIM-3 Nike Ajax missile. (Peterson report by Monica Mendoza)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
