Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is taking exception to the Pentagon premise that fielding a new long-range strike platform sooner is more preferable to upgrading the B-2 stealth bomber. At a House hearing on Wednesday, Skelton said, “In my view, a great deal of new capability can be achieved by continuing to modernize our most advanced bomber, the B-2.” He did admit that the B-2 might not fill all requirements “contemplated in the QDR” but maintained it could “satisfy a large percentage of those requirements.”
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.