Searchers recovered the body of Capt. Lucas Gruenther, an F-16 pilot from Aviano AB, Italy, in the Adriatic Sea on Thursday, announced the Gruenther family in a statement posted at the base’s website. Gruenther, chief of flight safety for Aviano’s 31st Fighter Wing, went missing on Monday after contact was lost with his F-16 over the water during a nighttime training mission. “We will never fully recover from our loss, but take heart in the knowledge that during his all-too-short time in this world, he made a significant difference in the lives of all whom he met,” reads the family’s statement.
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.