Netherlands and US defense officials formally signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday to engage the Dutch in the production and development stages of the Joint Strike Fighter program. Netherlands, which has been part of the JSF program since 1997, plans to purchase 85 conventional take-off and landing variants of the F-35. Another JSF participant, Turkey, signaled its intent to sign an MOU, committing itself to buy about 100 JSFs.
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.