That’s what the airmen of the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron who operate MC-12W surveillance aircraft out of Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, are meant to do. Since the all-volunteer unit stood up in December, it has flown 130 sorties, logging more than 600 hours. Already its contributions to the fight—MC-12s provide real-time full-motion video and signals information to troops at tactical levels—are well-understood by warfighters on the ground. Just ask Jeffrey Engel, special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. During one mission to apprehend a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device that might be used in a suicide strike, an MC-12 overhead helped the raiding party enter the area safely and apprehend five insurgents before they could use the VBIED against coalition forces or Afghan civilians, he said. (Bagram report by TSgt. Oshawn Jefferson)
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.