Top Air Force leaders have been in “constant dialog” with the Schlesinger Commission, which reported last week with suggestions on how to fix the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise, acting Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said Monday. At a press conference at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Donley said there are “no perfect solutions” and that USAF would not necessarily adopt the recommendation to put all bombers and missiles under a single organization, because, for one reason, not all bombers perform the nuclear mission anymore. Lots of options are being considered and will be developed in the months ahead, Donley said. He added that the Schlesinger report “was a factor” in deciding to postpone action on assigning a home for Cyber Command, since USAF expected that one proposal would include putting cyber with nukes and bombers. However, it didn’t, Donley noted.
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.