The North Dakota Congressional delegation would like to see the Air Force place its new Global Strike Command, which is to oversee the service’s nuclear enterprise, at Minot Air Force Base. The lawmakers are banking on the fact that the North Dakota base is the only facility that hosts both ICBMs and nuclear-capable bombers. (And, see above, Minot likely will get a second B-52 squadron.) In a Nov. 19 joint release, Sen. Kent Conrad (D), Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), and Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D) said they met that day with the service’s top two leaders to emphasize the “natural fit” of Minot for the new command. Already, the Louisiana Congressional delegation has nominated Barksdale Air Force Base, the other nuclear bomber base, for the nuke command, since the Louisiana facility is home also to 8th Air Force which will shift from Air Combat Command to Global Strike Command. The Air Force expects to name a provisional location by the end of the year.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.