An F-15E launched a hypersonic missile demonstrator, dubbed HyFly, which cleanly separated, then successfully ignited its solid rocket booster, reaching a speed greater than Mach 3, as part of a hypersonics test program run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and Boeing, states a company news release. The partnership hopes to use the HyFly program to mature the dual combustion ramjet hypersonic missile concept, eventually enabling a missile that is compatible with Air Force platforms as well as Navy aircraft and vessels.
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.