Air Force Reserve Command’s 917th Fighter Group at Barksdale AFB, La., is scheduled to start transferring its 24 A-10C ground-attack jets to other units on Monday as part of the reserve component’s force structure changes authorized by Congress in Fiscal 2013, according to a Barksdale release. Initially, one A-10 will enter retirement at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and two will transfer to Davis-Monthan’s 355th Fighter Wing, states the April 3 release. Over the coming months, one additional A-10C will go to the AMARG; five aircraft will shift to AFRC’s 442nd FW at Whiteman AFB, Mo., and the unit’s remaining 15 will transfer to the 355th FW, states the release. AFRC is set to inactivate the 917th FG by year’s end. (See also Air Force Reserve Command Outlines Force Structure Changes.)
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.