The confirmation hearing is set for March 26 on the nomination of Ashton Carter, Harvard physicist and former Clinton Administration assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, to become the new Pentagon weapons czar, replacing John Young. President Obama formally nominated Carter on March 18, having signaled his intent to nominate him late last month.
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.