AF-8 became the second Air Force F-35A strike fighter to arrive at Eglin AFB, Fla., to support the 33rd Fighter Wing’s F-35 training mission, announced prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The aircraft flew into Eglin from the company’s F-35 assembly facility in Fort Worth, Tex., on Wednesday. It joined AF-9, another F-35A production unit, that on July 14 became the first F-35 to touch down at Eglin for bed down and use at the schoolhouse to train F-35 pilots and maintainers. The 33rd FW is building a force of 59 F-35s, including F-35As, Marine Corps F-35Bs, and Navy F-35Cs, for training purposes.
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.