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.
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.