Mission crew members aboard USAF’s E-3 AWACS fleet are getting some well-earned relief for their backs and necks in the form of new ergonomic seats. The airmen, seated at 19 control stations, typically fly 12- to 14-hour combat missions as they provide airborne battle management and relay communications over operations in Southwest Asia. The existing seats offered no adjustable lumbar support, back tilt or neck adjustment features, and insufficient padding for such long missions. The AWACS crews are getting the new Fixed Aircrew Seat Standardization replacements are destined for other legacy large aircraft, like the E-8 Joint STARS, but currently USAF has only funded the E-3 upgrade. So far, the service has installed them on four of its 32 E-3s. (Hanscom report by Chuck Paone)
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.