The Air Force has expanded the potential beddown locations for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter joint/international schoolhouse operation from Eglin AFB, Fla., proper to area airfields within the broader Eglin reservation, so officials revealed during the public scoping meetings that began Aug. 24. In addition to Eglin main, presented as Alternative 1 in the service’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement, are Duke Field (Alternative 2) and Choctaw Field (Alternative 3). Each alternative has a bevy of subalternatives and options range from constructing new runways, adding parallel runways, and moving runways, to using a combination of Eglin, Duke, and Choctaw capabilities. Continue
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.