Earlier this month, Maj. Tammy Barlette, from the Arizona Air National Guard’s 214th Reconnaissance Group, became the first Reserve Component remotely piloted vehicle operator to graduate from the Air Force Weapons School Instructor Course at Nellis AFB, Nev. Barlette and three active-duty RPV pilots were the first RPV operators to attend the 5.5-month-long course. “I’ve been through a lot of training but nothing as difficult as this,” said Barlette, a former A-10 pilot who left active duty to fly MQ-1 Predators over Iraq and Afghanistan full time with the Guard. She is now dual-qualified in the Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. Part of her responsibility now will be to teach her fellow Guardsmen RPV operational tactics. (Nellis report by Maj. Gabe Johnson)
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.