The Combat Air Forces restructure draws to a close this week, as the last of 252 legacy A-10, F-15, and F-16 fighters make their way into retirement. The drawdown concludes on Wednesday and Thursday with the induction of two final F-16s from the South Dakota Air National Guard’s 114th Fighter Wing at Sioux Falls into the Air Force’s boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., said Capt. Shannon Collins, an Air Combat Command spokeswoman. The boneyard is the resting place for out-of-service airframes. Collins told the Daily Report that the final three F-15s were inducted into the boneyard on Sept. 30. They came from the Massachusetts ANG’s 104th FW in Westfield (two) and Florida ANG’s 125th FW in Jacksonville (one). The majority of the retired fighters went to the boneyard, but some are being converted to ground instructional training aircraft, noted Collins. USAF leadership has said the retirement of these fighters would save about $3.5 billion over the future years defense plan. Those funds will be invested in upgrades for the remaining fighter fleet and other critical CAF capabilities.
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.