A pair of B-52s flew a more than 14,000-mile strike mission from Barksdale AFB, La., to Jordan, as part of US Central Command’s Exercise Eager Lion earlier this week, US Strategic Command announced. The flights were “specifically designed to ensure maximum opportunities to synchronize and integrate USSTRATCOM bomber capabilities with regional partners, fostering cooperation and increasing interoperability,” said STRATCOM Commander Adm. Cecil Haney in a release. The 2nd Bomb Wing B-52s flew alongside Jordanian F-16s and coordinated with Jordanian joint terminal attack controllers, demonstrating conventional weapons employment during the more than 30-hour mission, May 17-18. The multi-national exercise included some 10,000 US and partner nation forces, according to the release.
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.