If an Associated Press report has it right, the US government may be close to working an arrangement with Colombia to host a new base from which the US military could launch its counter-drug missions. US Southern Command has been running counterdrug operations from Eloy Alfaro Air Base in Manta, Ecuador, since 1999 but Ecuador earlier this year signaled it wanted to end the lease arrangement by the end of September.
Sticker Shock Drags Out USAF’s E-7 Negotiations with Boeing
April 18, 2024
While a deal on the E-7 Wedgetail airborne battle management jet may come soon, negotiations are stuck on the high price Boeing is asking for the development jets, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said recently.