The Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps need to conduct more joint exercises to make sure they can work together seamlessly and efficiently in the future fight, said Gen. Philip Breedlove, Air Force vice chief of staff. “The Marine and Navy team work magnificently together, but we learned [through AirSea Battle discussions] that we need to do more exercises and more practice so we can become better integrated,” said Breedlove, who was speaking at an industry conference in Washington, D.C., Thursday. The overall AirSea Battle plan, which calls for closer integration of air and maritime forces, will remain largely classified, although officials said they expect to release more details in the near future. “AirSea Battle was a good first step. Now we just have to get out there and train together so we can meet our nation’s objectives,” said Breedlove.
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.