Peter Baker, long-time Moscow bureau chief for the Washington Post, told attendees at AFA’s Air & Space Conference Sept. 15 that there is no new Cold War, despite claims to the contrary, but the Russians are not “the partner we hoped they’d be.” Now a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine, Baker noted, too, that it should not have surprised anyone when Russian tanks rolled into Georgia, given Vladimir Putin’s penchant to “reassert authority” over former Soviet provinces. (Read more in An Emergent Russia)
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.