One of the Air Force’s B-2A stealth bombers, The Spirit of California, performed a flyover of the Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena Calif., on New Year’s Day. Here’s the link to a video of the flyover, which is one of the public events in 2013 that the Air Force is using to celebrate the 20th anniversary year of the B-2, according to service officials. It was on Dec. 17, 1993, that the first operational B-2, The Spirit of Missouri, arrived at Whiteman AFB, Mo. The base is home to the 509th Bomb Wing, which operates the 20-aircraft B-2 fleet. (See also link to B-2 video from Los Angeles’ KTLA New Station 5.)
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.