U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has approved $329 million for military construction projects in Hawai'i.

The Hawai'i Democrat said in a news release yesterday that the money includes $184 million for Schofield Barracks and $74 million for Pearl Harbor.

The military construction appropriations bill for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 also sets aside $910,000 for the planning and design of a short auxiliary airfield runway at Kona International Airport on the Big Island.

C-17 crews from Hickam Air Force Base on O'ahu would use the airfield for training.

Inouye is chairman of the subcommittee and the Senate's Appropriations Committee.

Also yesterday, Inouye said he now opposes directing the Pentagon to split its purchase of aerial refueling tankers between Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp.

Inouye's decision signals an end to congressional debate over how to proceed with the often-delayed Air Force program, worth as much as $35 billion over at least 10 years, to replace a fleet of tankers that has been in use since 1956.

Inouye's counterpart in the House, Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha, favors splitting the contract yet told Defense Secretary Robert Gates in June that the fiscal 2010 defense budget would give the Pentagon the option to conduct a winner-take-all competition.

Inouye said that his view has evolved since last month, when he hadn't ruled out splitting the program and needed more data from the Pentagon before making a decision.

Hiring two contractors for the program "may be much more expensive," Inouye said yesterday, providing no specific figures.