According to Florida news reports, Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) was successful in adding a provision to the 2010 defense spending bill that just passed the House that would delay the start of F-15 removal from Tyndall Air Force Base until April 1. The Air Force had wanted to start the process on Jan. 1. Boyd and members of the Bay Defense Alliance met with service leaders last month to discuss the base’s shift from F-15 training to F-22 training—and, in the process, loss of one squadron. Many lawmakers in both houses of Congress have chided the Air Force over its planned early retirement of some 250 legacy fighters and want a detailed report on how it intends to cover, in particular, the air sovereignty alert mission. (Also read News Herald report; TV 7 report)
The Space Force is looking for industry feedback on its plans to create a new “Mission Development Zone” at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., to support launch providers with space for additional payload processing capacity, test and assembly facilities, and potentially rocket and spacecraft manufacturing infrastructure.