WC-130J hurricane hunter aircraft from Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss., began arriving at Hickam AFB, Hawaii on Aug. 8 to monitor Hurricane Felicia, which was brewing in the Pacific and heading toward Hawaii. The aircraft flew 12-hour missions, crossing into the storm to gather valuable data on its intensity, size, and direction to help forecasters predict where it might make landfall. SSgt. Tanya King, wing spokeswoman, told the Daily Report Monday that five aircraft made the trip, including three WC-130Js dedicated to the storm-monitoring mission. As of midday yesterday, Felicia had weakened and was now a tropical storm about 285 miles east-northeast of Hilo, Hawaii. (For more, read the Aug. 9 report from WLOX TV news network of Biloxi, Miss., and the Aug. 8 report from Honolulu’s KHNL TW news station.)
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.