A retired F-16 fighter will soon grace the base entrance of the Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing in Duluth. The static display is made possible through the donations of local businesses and community groups, reports Duluth’s WDIO TV news station. The F-16 will be angled to look as if it’s getting ready to take off. Work on the display will begin in a few weeks and is expected to take about two months to finish. The wing operates F-16 Block 50 aircraft, having swapped out its older F-16 Block 25s for the newer airframes.
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.