The 
Air Force retired its first operational KC-135R tanker from service after more than 50 years of flying it, announced officials at Altus AFB, Okla. This KC-135, tail number 61-0312, first flew on Aug. 14, 1962, received new engines in 1985, and accumulated some 22,500 flying hours over the years, states the Feb. 22 release from Altus’ 97th Air Mobility Wing, which trains KC-135 aircrews. The aircraft departed Altus for good on Feb 21, en route to the Air Force’s aircraft boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., according to the release. Aircraft 312 is one of the KC-135s that the Fiscal 2013 defense authorization act allows the Air Force to retire, states the release. (Altus report by A1C Klynne Pearl Serrano)
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.