Two more F-16 fighters—one from Hill AFB, Utah, and one from Luke AFB, Ariz.—last week suffered problems that prompted emergency landings. A Vermont Air National Guard F-16 also recently developed a problem that required the pilot to jettison his external fuel tanks before attempting a landing. At Hill, a pilot with the 388th Fighter Wing had to jettison external fuel tanks and munitions shortly after takeoff. A bomb dropped on a shed near where ordnance is stored and exploded, demolishing the shed and a nearby transformer, reports The Salt Lake Tribune. The pilot landed safely. The Luke pilots in a two-seat F-16D had to make a hard landing short of the runway at Wickenburg Municipal Airport after losing engine power, according to a Luke release. They walked away safely. (This ABC15 report has slides showing the fighter in the dirt.)
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.