The 
AirSea Battle concept of operations is about the Navy and Air Force achieving “better persistence in contested spaces for both our services, with less risk,” summarized Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz Tuesday. Meeting with reporters after his speech at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, Schwartz said that while both services are taking this line of discussion very seriously, they are not merging, and the Air Force won’t be “subsumed” by the Navy, or vice-versa. The concepts being discussed emphasize that neither service should duplicate the other’s efforts, although it’s “not about programs, specifically,” Schwartz said. Schwartz also noted that he expects Air Force officers to fly on the Navy’s new two-seat EA-18G Growler jamming airplanes; an arrangement that was supposed to dry up when the Navy retired its four-seat EA-6B Prowlers.
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.