Operators at Buckley AFB, Colo., proved their ability to command all three types of missile warning satellites individually from the new, unified mission control center. Controllers with the 460th Operations Group successfully passed signals back and forth with Defense Support Program, and Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS)—both highly elliptical, and geostationary assets, according to a Feb. 27 release. This unified control system—dubbed increment 2, will replace the previously distributed control sites used since 2001 next year. It is “an enormous leap forward in capability and technology,” said Col. Mike Guetlein, remote sensing system program office director, in the release. Once operational, “the system will increase the warfighter’s ability to better characterize world-wide threats, more accurately determine their launch point and impact points, and alert the [combatant commands] to an impending attack in time for them to respond appropriately,” he added.
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.