As the Air Force develops its own cyber warfare capabilities, the Army is also moving forward in this realm, standing up its first network warfare battalion on a provisional basis on July 2, according to a release from the land service on that same day. “Activation of this unit centralizes the Army’s existing computer network operations into a provisional battalion, which gains efficiencies, said Maj. Gen. David Lacquement, commander of the Army Intelligence and Security Command. “This unit will serve as core for Army network warfare activities that will expand and gain capacity in the coming years.” The battalion’s missions will range from tactical support to Army brigade combat teams in Iraq to strategic support of the other services, joint commanders, and interagency partners.
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.