USBulgarian Exercise Concludes: Airmen from the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, worked with US Army and Bulgarian forces in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, during the fourth iteration of the tactical airlift/airdrop-oriented Exercise Thracian Spring. The four-day exercise, delayed a week because of the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano, ends today. USAF aircrews and jumpmasters and US Army jumpmasters completed nine sorties, training 360 Bulgarian paratroopers on jumping from a C-130J and completed 513 static line and freefall jumps. Lt. Col. Matthew Wehner, 37th Airlift Squadron deployed commander, said, “We are here to build partnerships while working with our Bulgarian counterparts as we exchange airlift and airdrop tactics and ideas; our trip here is vital to everyone involved.” The exercise, he added, enables the Ramstein crews to complete nighttime training requirements, “which is difficult to complete in Germany due to the reduced hours of darkness.” (86th AW report by MSgt. Quinton Burris)
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.