The Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Air Refueling Wing will host a KC-135 nose art unveiling this Friday (June 20) at the wing’s maintenance hangar on the grounds of Eielson Air Force Base. The new nose art will feature the seals of the City of Fairbanks and the City of North Pole to honor these two communities, which are home to the vast majority of the wing’s personnel, the wing said in a June 16 statement. The mayors of both cities will be on hand for the unveiling.
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.