The Air Force on Friday announced it would be inspecting some 130 A-10 Warthogs following “an increase in fatigue-related wing cracks.” The action affects A-10s with thin-skin wings assigned to Air Combat Command, Air Force Materiel Command, Pacific Air Forces, the Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command. The service has a program in place to replace the thin-skin wings installed during original manufacture, but the announcement said, “Taking immediate action is necessary for the safety of our aircrews and to bring our A-10 fleet back to health.” The service plans to place “priority focus” on those aircraft currently in Southwest Asia.
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.