The 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review is set for release Monday. But a draft iteration circulating inside the Washington, D.C., beltway last week shed some light on what to expect, such as Air Force plans to field a force structure of 71 to72 combat wings between 2011 and 2015. This includes: 29 airlift and aerial refueling wing-equivalents (with 33 primary mission aircraft per unit); 11 to 12 theater strike wing-equivalents (with 72 PMA per unit); 10 space and cyberspace wings; eight intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance wings (with approximately 300 total aircraft); five long-range strike (bomb) wings (with up to 96 PMA); five air superiority wing-equivalents (with 72 PMA per unit); and three command and control wings (with a total of 30 aircraft and five air and space operations centers). By comparison, the 2006 QDR organized the Air Force around 86 combat wings. Stay tuned for more.
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.