According to North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, the Air Force plans to station both the Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., reports the Grand Forks Herald. Of course, that does not mean that South Dakota is out of the running for one or more of the highly popular vehicles. At least the Air Force has not yet officially identified all the locations where it plans to assign UAV units.
The F-35 Joint Program Office has officially announced plans to issue multiple sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the fighter’s F135 engine—a widely expected move after Pentagon officials indicated they would do so earlier this year instead of developing an entirely new engine.