The 436th Airlift Wing at Dover AFB, Del., has received its full complement of new C-17 airlifters with delivery last week of No. 13, The Spirit of Delaware, flown in by Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Arthur Lichte. Said Lichte during an arrival ceremony Oct. 8, “The [C-17] Globemaster III can do it all and then some.” He praised the active-duty 436th AW and its associate wing, Air Force Reserve Command’s 512th AW, who he said “have wasted no time showcasing the Total Force strength of AMC.” The two wings transitioned from C-5 operations to the service’s newest airlifter, receiving the first C-17 in June 2007. Since receiving that first aircraft, the Dover team has flown combat and humanitarian missions, completing some 1,050 sorties. For Fiscal 2008, the Dover team also maintained the command’s highest mission capability rate at 97.2 percent and highest home station logistics departure reliability rate at 93.7 percent. (Dover Oct. 9 report by SrA. James Bolinger; Oct. 10 report by SSgt. Chad Padgett)
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.