Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, has received its 11th new C-130J transports aircraft. Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of 3rd Air Force, the component numbered air force for US Air Forces in Europe, on March 2 accepted the aircraft at Ramstein, according to Lockheed. Overall, the wing’s 37th Airlift Squadron is getting 14 C-130Js, which are replacing the C-130Es that it flew for decades. It received the first 10 C-130Js in 2009 and the remaining three will arrive in coming weeks. “The increased cargo capacity and the longer legs of the J model will be extremely valuable for the Ramstein wing as it continues to support the important intratheater missions for US European Command and US Africa Command,” said Gorenc. In fact, the squadron flew its first C-130J mission to Africa in December.
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.