The other top items on the Air Force’s list of 20 priorities not funded in its 2010 budget request (see item above) are modifications to EC-130H Compass Call aircraft, funding of Operationally Responsive Space satellites, spares and support gear for the first 10 F-35 fighters, and a forward-looking infrared system for the HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopter. Also on the list: countermeasures for the A-10 attack aircraft, five more active electronically-scanned array radars for F-15C fighters, $331.1 million for two classified programs, 50 more air-to-air missiles, attrition replacements for three Pave Hawks, 11 military construction projects, two additional HC-130J refueling aircraft, modifications to the B-52 bomber, and gear to detect nuclear weapons detonations high in the atmosphere. (Air Force 2010 UPL)
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.