It now appears the Air Force is working with the Army to try to get Senate authorizers to restore funding the Senate Armed Services Committee cut for the Joint Cargo Aircraft, reports the Congressional newspaper The Hill. The Senate panel cut Army JCA funding from its markup of the 2007 defense authorization bill, opting to wait until the Army and Air Force both work out plans for the program. The Army, however, already has defined its needs and wants to field a new aircraft sooner than the Air Force.
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.