After flying 242 sorties and dropping 609,960 gallons of fire retardant over wildfires in Arizona and New Mexico since June 16, airmen and their specially equipped C-130s concluded their mission. On Thursday, personnel and two Modular Airborne Firefighting System-carrying C-130s from Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd Airlift Wing returned home to Peterson AFB, Colo., from Kirtland AFB, N.M., their temporary operating base as they battled the fires. Over the mission’s course, the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Airlift Wing in Charlotte and the California’s ANG’s 146th AW at Channel Islands ANG Station each also dispatched two MAFFS-fitted C-130s to Kirtland to help. “The team success over the past 30 days demonstrated the professionalism and effectiveness of the citizen airmen who volunteer for this vital mission,” said Lt. Col. Dave Condit, deputy commander of the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group that oversaw this aerial firefighting operation. (Peterson 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.