An Air Force B-1B bomber dropped 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions onto enemy fighting positions in both Nangalam and Asadabad, Afghanistan, on April 27, and an A-10 Thunderbolt fired cannon rounds onto enemy combatants in Jalalabad, Air Force officials directing the air campaign from the combined air and space operations center in Southwest Asia said in an April 28 release. These strikes were among the 46 close-air-support missions flown by coalition air forces over Afghanistan that day. In Iraq, coalition forces executed 43 CAS missions April 27.
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.