A C-130J deployed from Dyess AFB, Tex., became the first airplane to make use of a newly constructed C-130 hangar at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, according to base officials. The C-130J, operating as part of Kandahar’s 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, parked in the hangar for the first time on Sept. 28, they said in an Oct. 5 release. Kandahar is home to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing that operates numerous aircraft types providing aeromedical evacuation and casualty evacuation; airborne communications relay; close air support; combat search and rescue; command and control; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and tactical airlift capability. (Kandahar photo caption by SrA. Jack Sanders)
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.