The lates
t edition of Green Flag, now a key close air support training exercise, featured USAF F-15E and French Air Force Mirage F1 fighters, working with MQ-9 Reaper, E-8C Joint STARS, and RC-135 Rivet Joint teams. The 63 airmen in the French force were only the second group to participate in a Green Flag. Lt. Col. Patrick Oudot, commander of the French detachment, said: “We fight side-by-side with Americans in Afghanistan. When you are in war is not the time to discover your allies. … We have to train side-by-side and be combat ready.” The Joint STARS contingent included US soldiers who serve on the E-8C mission crew as airborne target surveillance supervisors to help process Army ground force requests. Part of the Green Flag exercise included working with the Army’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team training at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, Calif. (Nellis report by 2nd Lt. Jennifer Richard; NTC report by Casey Bain)
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.