WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — The Air Force Materiel Command will open a management center next month at Wright-Patterson as the service consolidates 12 management and operation centers across the nation to five.

The consolidation will initially cut more than 1,000 civilian jobs across Materiel Command centers around the country and save about $109 million a year. Materiel Command is headquartered at Wright-Patterson.

Wright-Patt’s Aeronautical Systems Center, which oversees acquisition of Air Force weapons systems, will be absorbed into the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The Air Force did not know how many jobs will be cut within Materiel Command at the base, but officials said it will be minimal and less than other bases facing greater consolidation.

“We’re going to do essentially the same mission with less people and it’s going to cost the taxpayers less,” Col. Art Huber, Aeronautical Systems vice commander, told reporters Tuesday.

Basewide, Wright-Patterson is expected to lose about 234 civilian and 162 military positions this year.

A Rand Corp. study reviewed the changes, which it largely backed, and made recommendations, congressional leaders say. Among the report’s findings: Materiel Command should develop ways to track the changes’ efficiency and improve support systems’ design planning early in product development.

“This is a critical step in the future of the Air Force,” said Jeff Hoagland, executive director of the Dayton Development Coalition.

The new center will open July 9 at Wright-Patterson. It will take over the Aeronautical Systems Command coinciding with the July 20 retirement of Aeronautical Systems commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Owen, according to the Air Force. Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II, AFMC vice commander will be commander of the AFLCMC.