The eight USAF commands representing the combat air forces have issued the 2010 CAF strategic plan. The 21-page document, Securing the High Ground: Agile Combat Airpower, articulates the vision for developing, planning, and employing integrated CAF capabilities in defense of the nation. “The CAF is America’s asymmetric advantage and the backbone of our nation’s security,” said Gen. William Fraser, Air Combat Command commander and CAF lead, in an ACC release. The changing security environment is characterized by a growing list of competitors and potential adversaries across the spectrum of conflict, states the document. Adding to the challenge are “fiscal constraints, which, if not properly managed, can and will negatively affect” the ability to satisfy combatant commanders’ requirements, states the document. The mitigation strategy is “to develop a smaller, more capable force that is effective across the wide range of military challenges,” it reads. (CAF strategic plan)
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.