An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM lifted off from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., en route to the Kwajalein test range in the central Pacific during a routine test of the accuracy and reliability of the Minuteman weapon system, announced officials with the base’s 30th Space Wing. The Feb. 25 mission “proceeded as planned,” they said.
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.