A massive C-5 airlifter landed at Bagram AB, Afghanistan without interrupting flying operations, marking a first for the facility, reports Capt. Michael Meridith. The Air Force finished runway upgrades last December to enable C-5s to land at Bagram without having to move other aircraft out of the way. Opening the field to the largest of USAF’s strategic cargo aircraft means the service can “get cargo to the warfighter faster,” said Col. Jon Sutterfield, commander of the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Group. The aircraft that landed Sept. 22 offloaded nearly 16,000 pounds of cargo and took off again—in less than three hours.
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.