According to Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Nebraska lawmakers were forewarned that the Air Force’s new cyber headquarters would not call Offutt Air Force Base its home before the service’s public announcement Friday that it wants to place 24th Air Force at Lackland AFB, Tex. In a May 15 statement, Nelson said, too, that he “assumed they would make sure this time that the criteria matched the decision,” referring to USAF’s earlier decision to place the new Air Force Global Strike Command at Barksdale AFB, La.—a decision sharply criticized by Nebraska elected officials. Nelson continued: “The truth of the matter is that Air Force officials view Offutt Air Force Base as primarily the home of United States Strategic Command, a unified command. While they maintain the 55th Wing at Offutt, their priorities are enriching Air Force bases that primarily support Air Force operations.”
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.