The last of 450 new guidance sets have been deployed on the Minuteman III ICBM force, ending the $2.4 billion guidance replacement program “on time and on budget,” said Maj. Gen. Roger Burg, 20th Air Force commander, during a ceremony at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Feb. 25. “We are fully operational and capable,” he added. The project started in 1999 and ended last month with removal of the 1960s-era NS-20 guidance set and addition of the NS-50 on the last missile at Minot AFB, N.D. (F.E. Warren report by TSgt. Kurt Arkenberg)
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.