Maj. Gen. William Lord, commander of Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional), last week told attendees at an industry association meeting at Hanscom AFB, Mass., that “it is easier to get approval to do a kinetic strike with a 2,000-pound bomb than it is for us to do a non-kinetic cyber activity.” Currently, he said, “we’re always shooting behind the rabbit” because cyber defense is not yet proactive. He said, “I think that cyber can be the next strategic force of the future,” and to make that happen the service must “operationalize” cyber within the warfighting arsenal. (Lord has been nominated to become the Air Force Chief of Warfighting Integration.) (Hanscom report by Chuck Paone)
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.