Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the president of Kyrgyzstan, has been negotiating with the Pentagon over the past and future use of Manas Air Base. The situation appears to be escalating. Several news reports state Bakiyev wants a significant raise for the base’s rent—“tens of times more” according to Agence France-Presse and “100-fold” per The Financial Times. This is the facility to which many USAF forces moved when Uzbekistan kicked the US military out of K-2.
Northrop Grumman test fired its newest solid rocket motor Dec. 4, part of an internally funded effort to rapidly design and build SRMs using advanced manufacturing techniques.
