In an effort to cut down on paper waste, C-130 aircrews at Little Rock AFB, Ark., earlier this month received more than 700 iPad 2s as part of an Air Mobility Command initiative to replace flight bags with electronic tablets, announced officials with Little Rock’s 19th Airlift Wing on July 10. The tablets arrived on July 2 and will undergo a six-month trial period during which aircrews will store publications and other paperwork on them electronically, rather than carrying them aboard in paper form in flight bags. A typical publication bag can weigh between 60 pounds and 80 pounds, and costs more than an iPad, said MSgt. Brandon Bowers, a 19th Operations Group evaluator flight engineer. “The tablets will give us more information with less weight, while saving money and conserving resources,” he said. AMC envisions that every mobility flier will eventually have a tablet for duty, but for now, the 19th AW is the lead unit for the testing phase of this initiative. (Little Rock report by SSgt. Jacob Barreiro)
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.