California Air National Guard pararescuemen assigned to the 129th Rescue Wing jumped from an MC-130P with an inflatable boat to reach injured fishermen on a Chinese vessel 700 miles off the coast of Acapulco, Mexico. Once aboard the ship during Monday’s rescue, the airmen treated and prepared the victims for evacuation to Acapulco by a pair of the wing’s HH-60 Pave Hawks. The rescuers then readied the fishermen for a flight aboard a second MC-130P to MCAS Miramar, near San Diego, for advanced treatment at the University of California Medical Center. “I could not be prouder of our airmen’s extraordinary efforts during this mission,” said Col. Steven Butow, 129th RQW commander. He added, “This mission is a testament to the first-response capabilities our wing provides to California and the nation.” The unit, based at Moffett Federal Airfield, northwest of San Jose, flew a similar long-range rescue off of the California coast last month. (Moffett report by Capt. Donald G. LeBlanc)
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.