According to Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the 2008 defense appropriations bill does include some $230 million to put construction projects on track to meet BRAC 2005-directed moves to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Officials in Ohio have been working for more than a year to plan for the move of the aerospace medicine functions from Texas and a sensors operation from New York. Earlier reports pegged the construction cost at $370 million. The Dayton Business Journal reports that another $90 million is expected in 2009.
One of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ prototype Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones crashed shortly after takeoff April 6, and the company has paused its test flights while it investigates the incident.