Dyess Gets 23rd New C-130J: The 317th 
Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Tex., took delivery of its 23rd factory-fresh C-130J transport, leaving the unit only five airframes shy of its planned full complement of Super Hercules airplanes. The new aircraft arrived at the Texas base on Sept. 13, piloted by Brig. Gen. Lee Levy, Air Mobility Command’s director of logistics. Dyess is expected to receive it remaining five C-130Js by 2013, according to base officials. The new airlift force will replace the group’s legacy fleet of C-130Hs. Once the final Super Hercules is in place, Dyess will be home to the largest C-130J force in the world, said the officials. The group received its 22nd C-130J on Aug. 29. (Dyess photo caption by A1C Damon Kasberg)
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.