USAF
is testing a new airdrop system that could provide ground forces and operations centers the exact location and inventory of a container delivery system within minutes of an airdrop. According to an Oct. 6 release, an Air Force Reserve Command C-130 crew from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Peterson AFB, Colo., dropped two CDS bundles in late September employing the Airdrop Enhanced Logistics Visibility System (AELVIS), in which the Air Force Academy Institute for Information Technology Applications has combined blue force tracker capabilities with automated information and geospatial technologies. A recovery team on site of the drop at Ft. Carson, Colo., pinpointed the bundle locations and immediately knew their contents, while a simulated operations center at USAFA had the same information at the same time. “This project addresses the last tactical mile in airdrop operations,” said Lt. Col. Patrick Ryan, AELVIS project officer for the 302nd AW. (302nd AW report by Capt. Jody Ritchie)
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.