Will USAF Offload Some JSFs?: 
Speaking with the Dallas Morning News, Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, predicts international demand for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be so great that the Air Force may give up a few of its planned 1,763 aircraft. He says that the number of new fighters needed by foreign air forces might well eclipse the production capacity, forcing some of the USAF buy into the international marketplace. There have been rumors that current USAF leadership is backing off the service’s requirement for 1,763 F-35s. In fact, Loren Thompson, knowledgeable defense analyst with the Lexington Institute, told the News that the new number is 1,100. Whether such a move would free up funds to buy more of the F-22A stealth fighter is questionable.
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.