Air Force 
officials announced plans to stand-up four new active duty associate fighter squadrons as a money saving measure. The new units, which will share aircraft and equipment with existing Air Force Reserve Command fighter squadrons, will be established at Barksdale AFB, La.; Homestead ARB, Fla.; NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex.; and Whiteman AFB, Mo. “We partner active duty and Reserve airmen together and create a powerful synergy that is cost-effective and results in a force that performs both daily operations as well as strategic surges,” said Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief. AFRC squadrons at Barksdale and Whiteman will continue A-10 operations, with the addition of 128 active duty airmen, and F-16 units at Homestead and Fort Worth will gain 168 active posts. While some AFRC personnel will be cut, units will be granted “time to adjust,” said Stenner. (Pentagon release)
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.