US Air Forces Central announced that an F-16 fighter deployed to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, caught fire Nov. 12 after its pilot aborted a takeoff around 5:40 a.m. local time. The pilot managed to get out of the aircraft on the ground, with no apparent injury, but the aircraft was destroyed in the fire. The Air Force planned to convene an accident investigation board.
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.