New Mexico has thrown its hat in the ring to try to win USAF’s new Cyber Command. Gov. Bill Richardson said his state is forming a US Air Force Cyberspace Command Task Force “to promote New Mexico” for the permanent home to the new command. Currently, USAF has created a provisional headquarters in Louisiana, where 8th Force at Barksdale Air Force Base took the lead in organizing the cyber effort. Besides Louisiana, which has put around $100 million behind its push, there are six other states vying for the new command. Richardson says New Mexico “has the right conditions and the best scientific talent to serve as the new home” for Cyber Command.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.