The 
Air Force Scientific Advisory Board announced that it will undertake two studies in 2012 as part of its mission to inform the USAF leadership. Extended Uses of Air Force Space Command Sensors will investigate how to configure data-collection and -dissemination architectures so that the service’s terrestrial and on-orbit space sensors could best support additional missions beyond their primary roles, such as decision-aiding, targeting, and battlespace awareness. Non-traditional ISR for Contested Environments will evaluate the feasibility and utility of incorporating advanced sensors on existing and planned aircraft and munitions that are designed to penetrate and operate in hostile airspace. These sensors would collect intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance data to support a variety of users. AFSAB members will brief the Air Force leadership on the studies’ findings in July 2012, according to the board’s schedule. The release of the corresponding reports is planned for next December. (See also our coverage of AFSAB’s 2011 studies.)
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.