Congressman Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) says the Air Force has awarded a contract worth $14 million to a New Jersey company to construct a practice airstrip for the new C-17 force at McGuire AFB, N.J. Saxton noted in a statement that this was the “final planned project of making McGuire AFB a modern C-17 base.” The Air Force plans to install the 3,500-feet by 90-feet runway parallel to an existing runway on the Lakehurst Navy portion of the megabase complex and expects it to be completed by next spring.
The Air Force is planning to spend $2.19 billion over the next five years to acquire new C-37 jets for transporting military and civilian leaders. That’s on top of another $1.17 billion in projected funding for the VC-25B “Air Force One” replacement.