The US Air Force has begun flying missions out of their new southern Sahara Desert airfield in Niger. The base is meant to be used for intelligence operations, but is also running resupply missions in the region.
US Air Force Europe says that the early flights are being conducted in
part to assess the air field, which includes the largest ever Air
Force-led construction project of a runway. The long-term intention is
to begin using it for drone flights as well.
The US has long been interested in this being a base for flying drones
across Western Africa. The Nigerien government has allowed the US to
conduct drone strikes out of their territory, something they had
previously opposed.
The airfield cost about $110 million, and faced repeated delays from
sandstorms and locust swarms. Officials expect full flights to begin
later this year.
I bet that runway is pothole free. But what the f**k, $110 million would only fix so many of our roads anyway. Carry on.
“our” roads? I didn’t ask for them.
My point was we could(should)be spending on our infrastructure, especially “our” roads, instead of spending it on runways in Africa.
Haven’t they heard of Raytheon’s new anti-locust warfighting system? !Guaranteed¡ to kill “up to” 99% of all locusts in the area* except when the system is undergoing simple, routine maintenance** of course, costs only $200 billion***, and is patriotically named the George Washington Freedom America Loc-B-Gone.
*Results may vary, as the 99% figure was obtained under more or less ideal conditions (dead locusts fed directly into the hopper.)
**The GWFAL-B-G necessitizes only ten to twenty patriotic days of maintenance for each 79 locusts destroyed.
***This quote does not include Raytheon’s guaranteed service and upgrade contract, negotiated in private with procurement officers at the Pentagon who have been promised lucrative no-show jobs with a subsidiary once they take early retirement.
Full spectrum dominance…..