Nevada residents have voiced concerns over expanding key fighter training airspace over a large section of the state, but Air Force officials visiting this week said that such worries are not “show stoppers,” the Associated Press reports. Assistant Air Force Secretary William Anderson met with Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn and state politicians over the matter on Monday, which would impact training areas for fighters based out of Utah’s Hill AFB. The Air Force plans to add approximately 2,400 square miles of air space to existing space of 20,000 miles(most of which is in Utah. Concerns about the project’s impact on the environment, tourism and commercial flights can be alleviated, Anderson believes, since the size of the plan has been downsized already.
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.