Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s budget proposal this week will recommend spending $26 million to upgrade “critical” infrastructure at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, according to her office.
The purpose is in part to attract new flying missions and aircraft to the base, “recognizing the $30 billion that it contributes to the state’s economy and more than 116,000 jobs it supports,” Whitmer’s office said in a summary.
The administration didn’t detail what infrastructure would be enhanced at the base, but the investment would build on Whitmer’s commitment to spend $100 million to upgrade facilities at Selfridge as the state seeks a follow-on mission to replace the aging A-10s that will start to be retired in 2026.
Last year, then-secretary of the U.S. Air Force Frank Kendall said Selfridge would “potentially” be considered for a future fighter mission to replace the base’s A-10 aircraft, “but at the current time we don’t have an option to do that.”
Kendall at the time noted the decision announced a year ago to base a squadron of 12 KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers at the Selfridge base in Harrison Township was in part because of the planned divestiture of the A-10 fighters. Selfridge also is home to eight aging KC-135 Stratotankers, which are also slated to be retired.
Kendall added that the next-generation crewless or unmanned “collaborative” aircraft (CCA) that the Air Force is acquiring is a possibility for Selfridge.
Peters, who serves on the Senate Armed Services panel, has also emphasized the possibility of the Air Force employing KC-46s as a “command and control node” for future CCA aircraft.
The Air Force in January 2024 said Selfridge is the “preferred location” to host a KC-46A squadron, pending the results of a planned environmental impact analysis this year. The KC-46As are projected to start arriving in 2029.
Air Force officials have projected that jobs will still be lost in the retirement of the A-10s at Selfridge, which are expected to begin divestment in 2026.
That retirement process would occur incrementally through 2029 and could result in the net loss of approximately 300 part-time personnel positions and about 25 full-time jobs, accounting for the KC-46A jobs that will be added, the Air Force said.
Bipartisan members of Congress have said they continue to push defense officials for a follow-on fighter mission to replace the A-10s, but that depends on the availability of aircraft such as the F-35 or F-15EX.
Peters last week said he plans to press President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Air Force, Troy Meink, on a fighter mission. “And every mission we can get,” Peters said. “We’re just well-positioned for lots of missions.”
Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have proposed hypersonics testing among the new missions that could come to Selfridge. A study is underway examining whether the base or a site nearby would be suitable for a facility for hypersonics and extreme environment testing. The study is being conducted by LIFT, the Detroit-based high-tech manufacturing research institute in Corktown.
Republican U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township, whose district includes the base, has also floated an AH-64E Apache helicopter mission for Selfridge. James, a pilot, flew AH-64s in Iraq.
The annual defense policy bill adopted in December authorized the creation of a new center to coordinate northern border security at Selfridge. The bill used language proposed in a separate bill by Peters and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
mburke@detroitnews.com