Earlier this year, US News and World Report ranked the US Air Force Academy as the top four-year college in the US Western region. And the academy tied for sixth place with California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for having the best undergraduate engineering program nationwide. Not bad at all. However, upon closer inspection, some Daily Report readers pointed out that USAFA’s engineering ranking was behind both West Point’s (No. 4) and Annapolis’ (No. 5). They wondered how that could be since many have traditionally regarded the Air Force as the most tech-savvy service. So we asked USAFA if the rankings highlighted issues that are cause for concern. Click here for the detailed response that Col. Rob Fredell, the academy’s chief scientist, provided on behalf of the institution.
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.