The Air Force Center for Civil Engineering and the Environment is constructing a 63,645-square foot hangar at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to handle corrosion control maintenance for the base’s new C-17 airlifters. An AFCEE release notes that Hickam currently has no facility large enough to handle paint and wash functions for the C-17s. The center also plans to build a 25,031-square foot maintenance shop for the new aircraft. Despite the island’s traditionally good weather, Hickam does get trade winds on a routine basis that make outdoors operations too hazardous. AFCEE expects to complete work on the C-17 projects in December.
House lawmakers unveiled a new reconciliation package July 15 with $60 billion for defense, $290 billion less than the Pentagon has been seeking, a day after a Senate vote to advance the annual defense policy bill failed—developments that show the perilous state of the Pentagon’s ambitious plans for fiscal 2027.