Federal funding has been secured for two new projects at the Holloman Air Force Base, home to the 49th Wing which trains F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots.
The funding is coming through the new National Defense Authorization Act, providing $740.5 billion in funding for fiscal year 2021 for military base operations, maintenance, and research and development projects, among other things.
For Holloman, the defense bill means money for the construction of an $85 million facility designed to host the Formal Training Unit at the Holloman Air Force Base, six miles to the southwest of Alamogordo.
That Formal Training Unit is specifically for the base’s MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle operators.
Holloman is also receiving funding for a study looking at ways to upgrade its famous 10-mile long Holloman High Speed Test Track.
That precision-aligned testing track, originally completed in 1949, is the longest test track in the country and used by scientists to conduct rocket-propelled sled tests. But it hasn’t seen an update in nearly two decades.
By Garry Boulard
