US officials at the Airspace Control Authority in Baghdad transferred responsibility for more of Iraq’s airspace to their counterparts in the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority. This is part of the process of incrementally restoring airspace control to the Iraqis before the US military’s pullout by year’s end. The transfer took place on June 1, with ICAA assuming responsibility for airspace from the surface up to 24,000 ft. in Ali sector, which covers the southern third of the country. This means the Iraqis now have control of aircraft on final approach in this sector. The incremental transfers began in January 2009, when the Iraqis resumed authority for all airspace above 24,000 ft. across the entire nation. Transfer of the airspace from surface to 15,000 ft. in central and northern Iraq is scheduled to occur by October. (Baghdad report by SrA. Chuck Broadway)
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.