Maine’s senate delegation wants the Pentagon to donate to Maine the military facilities in the state that are marked for closure under BRAC 2005. To see that this happens, the senators want to tack an amendment onto the Fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill. It may be a worthy idea, giving something back to the losing communities. Considering the crunch to just get a Senate authorization bill out the door and into conference with the House, chances of passage seem slim. Read here about the measure.
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.