Budget has $11B for JSF, boosts SOF

The Pentagon's 2011 budget will seek nearly $11 billion for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, boosts funds special operations forces and puts the Air Force on track to award a tanker contract in the summer of 2010, according to a draft overview obtained by Defense News. The budget is due to be sent to Congress Feb. 1. (Source: Defense News, 01/28/10) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base will be home of the Joint Strike Fighter training center; Northwest Florida and South Mississippi are home to several special operations organizations; if Northrop Grumman/EADS compete for and win the tanker contract, the planes will be assembled in Mobile, Ala.