Airmen 
have sprung into action to assist the people of Japan in the wake of last week’s devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck northeast Japan. Air Mobility Command officials announced that numerous tanker and transport aircraft are poised to support the relief operations, along with airmen trained to quickly set up airfield operations and distribute arriving cargo. Five HH-60 rescue helicopters and rescue and medical personnel and civil engineers from Kadena Air Base on Okinawa have shifted north to Yokota Air Base to assist in the relief operations. Yokota airmen are also preparing their installation to support the influx of relief workers from the United States and elsewhere. Civil engineers from Kadena have also arrived at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan, along with civil urban search and rescue teams from Fairfax County, Va., and Los Angeles. Further, a U-2 reconnaissance aircraft from Osan AB, South Korea, and a RQ-4 Global Hawk from Andersen AFB, Guam, are providing overhead imagery to help the rescue efforts. (AFPS report by Cheryl Pellerin) (Kadena release) (Kadena report by TSgt. Mike Tateishi) (Misawa release) (Osan report by TSgt. Stacy Foster) (Scott release) (Yokota report by Amn. John Partlow)
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.