The Air Force is interested in upgrading the avionics on 28 of its C-21A aircraft between 2012 and 2015, according to a notice posted at the Federal Business Opportunities website. This upgrade would enable these aircraft, which shuttle VIPs and also can transport small loads of cargo, to continue to operate within North American and European airspace. Toward that end, officials with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., have issued a request for information to solicit industry feedback on the scope of work required to complete this upgrade. The work would entail replacing the aircraft’s analog cockpit attitude and heading reference system with digital, solid-state equipment, and updating the platform’s flight management system, weather radar, and global positioning system. The Air Force currently has 34 C-21s in its active duty force and 21 in the Air National Guard, an Air Mobility Command spokesman told the Daily Report Tuesday.
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.