Pentagon officials say the work on the second wedge of the five-sided building will be done by the end of November, keeping the entire renovation project “on schedule and slightly under budget.” Renovation of Wedge 3 has started, which means that DOD employees in the second section of that wedge will move out by early 2006 at the latest. Officials also plan to shut down the Pentagon’s River Terrace. The entire project is a $1 billion effort to overhaul the interior of the 60-year-old building and predates the damage caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist hijacked airliner that plowed into an almost completed Wedge 1. That work had to be redone before continuing with the next phase. Officials expect to complete Wedge 3 by October 2007 and the entire project by December 2010.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
