The US military hasn’t focused enough on electronic warfare in recent years, US Strategic Command nominee Gen. John Hyten said Tuesday. “I look at it in my own service, where the electronic warfare missions in the United States Air Force have not had as significant a priority as many of the other areas as we’ve done, especially the last 15 years of conflict in the Middle East,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his nomination hearing. Hyten, who currently commands Air Force Space Command, pledged to review the Pentagon’s EW capabilities and ability to control the electromagnetic spectrum if he commands STRATCOM. If confirmed by the Senate, Hyten will replace Adm. Cecil Haney, who has been at the helm since 2014. (See also: Leading EW Out of the Wilderness from the June 2016 issue of Air Force Magazine.)
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.