A B-52H b
omber from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., left the base for good on Jan. 21, on a flight to Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where it will be placed in recallable storage by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. This aircraft, with tail number 61-0027, is the latest of 18 H-model B-52s that Air Combat Command is retiring to reduce the B-52 fleet size to 76. The Air Force began pulling these B-52s from service last July. (Minot photo caption by SSgt. Keith Ballard)
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.