Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen joined Air National Guard officials at a groundbreaking in Memphis for a new $215 million Air National Guard base. According to Associated Press news service, the plan is to move the 164th Airlift Wing from its present location and increase the size of its base to provide for four additional C-5 airlifters. The unit currently had four C-5s assigned, when the new facility is complete next year, it will be able to accommodate eight.
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.