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Mexico Wants F-35 FightersNew Mexico Wants F-35 FightersNew Mexico Wants F-35 FightersNew Mexico Wants F-35 FightersWere the Pentagon to base the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at Cannon AFB, N.M., instead of Eglin AFB, Fla., taxpayers would save at least $170 million, say lawmakers from New Mexico. With that argument, they hope to get Cannon off the BRAC closure list. The Clovis (NM) News-Journal notes that Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman says that $167 million of the $209 million slated for Eglin would pay for infrastructure that Cannon already has. Republican Sen. Pete Domenici noted that Cannon also has pilot training experience.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.