The Air Force has decided to put a new Air Force Special Operations Command wing at Cannon AFB, N.M., officials said late Tuesday. Recent speculation had ventured AFSOC as a prime candidate. The move ends the base’s nearly year-long search for a new mission, after BRAC 2005 stripped it of its F-16 mission and put it on life-support through 2009. AFSOC plans to establish its new wing—which will take the appellation 16th Special Operations Wing—by Oct. 1, 2007. The current 16th SOW at Hurlburt Field, Fla., will revert to its former designation as 1st SOW.
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.
