Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm hopes to snag the new Joint Cargo Aircraft mission for the state’s Air National Guard unit at Battle Creek, the 110th Fighter Wing. She is joining a growing list of state governors who are trying to secure a new flying mission for Air Guard units that will lose their aircraft under BRAC 2005. (See this item from last week and below.) The 110th FW is slated to lose its A-10 attack jets to another Michigan ANG unit in Selfridge. Granholm touted the potential of Battle Creek during a visit to the facility by National Guard Bureau chief Lt. Gen. Steven Blum.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.