The close partnership between the United States, Australia, Britain, and Canada in space-based early warning will continue as the Air Force transitions from the 40 year-old Defense Support Program constellation to the new Space Based Infrared Systems network, according to a USAF space official. “We have a memorandum of agreement that’s been signed by all four nations agreeing to how the three partner nations integrate in with us,” said Lt. Col. Jennifer Jenkins, 2nd Space Warning Squadron commander at Buckley AFB, Colo., during a media roundtable Oct. 28. The agreement “has been signed for another three years” which “gets us well into the SBIRS” program, she noted. Personnel from the three allies make up 16 of the 140 positions at Buckley’s mission control center, which operates DSP and SBIRS. These personnel are fully integrated into operations and intelligence sharing, said Jenkins
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.