BUDGET INCLUDES PLANES, HOUSING.Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. - President George W. Bush's 2005 defense budget proposes funding for Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley projects including the joint strike fighter A strike fighter is a fighter aircraft which is also capable of attacking surface targets, including ships. It differs from an attack aircraft in that the aircraft remains a capable fighter. and the B-2 stealth bomber, as well as money to build new homes at Edwards Air Force Base. The president's proposed budget includes $41.2 million to replace 218 housing units at Edwards. Additional funding is expected in the next two budgets to help the base replace over 600 homes, said Col. Wendy Masiello, commander of Edwards' 95th Air Base Wing. ``We're looking forward to that,'' Masiello said. The funding resumes a campaign begun in the 1990s to replace hundreds of aging homes occupied by base personnel. The effort was on hold for a few years to allow for a review to determine whether the housing effort should be turned over to private companies. The Air Force determined privatization privatization: see nationalization. privatization Transfer of government services or assets to the private sector. State-owned assets may be sold to private owners, or statutory restrictions on competition between privately and publicly owned for Edwards housing was not economically feasible. Much of the base's housing was built in the 1950s. The aging homes are becoming increasingly more costly to maintain and they lack central heating and cooling Central heating and cooling The use of a single heating or cooling plant to serve a group of buildings, facilities, or even a complete community through a system of distribution pipework that feeds each structure or facility. systems. The Bush administration is proposing to spend $4.1 billion to update housing throughout the American military as part of the president's pledge of ``better pay, better treatment, better training'' for servicemen and -women. The budget also includes $9.9 million to continue the development of an Edwards test complex for the F-35 joint strike fighter program The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) became synonymous with the later F-35 Lightning II, however until 2001 the term was applied to the competition between the Boeing X-32 and Lockheed Martin X-35. . The 2004 budget included more than $19 million for that. The $401 billion defense budget also includes $341 million for maintenance and modifications to the B-2 stealth bomber fleet; $4.7 billion for the production of 24 F-22 aircraft, which are assembled in Georgia; $4.5 billion for the continued development of the joint strike fighter; and $1.9 billion for development and production of unmanned aircraft Unmanned Aircraft (UA) is a term used in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) definition of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). UA refers to the aircraft portion of the system required to operate it, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. , a category that includes the Palmdale-built Global Hawk reconnaissance aircraft. With the president proposing to keep non-Defense, non-Homeland Security funding increases down to less than 1 percent, the proposed 7 percent increase for defense funding is going to come under heavy scrutiny. ``The 7 percent increase I like, but I think we will have a fight to keep it,'' said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-El Cajon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee The term Armed Services Committee could refer to:
Hunter said he would have liked more funding for heavy bombers and transport aircraft, but the budget climate would make it problematic to try to pursue that funding. Jim Skeen, (661) 267-5743 james.skeen(at)dailynews.com |
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