A semi-trailer truck carrying engine parts from a Minuteman III ICBM from Minot AFB, N.D., overturned on a gravel road into a ditch Monday near the north-central North Dakota base. Minot’s local KXMC TN news station reported Tuesday that Air Force officials with the base’s 91st Missile Wing said the truck was not carrying nuclear material and initial tests showed that no rocket fuel had leaked from the 14-gallon containers onboard. No one was injured in the accident, according to KXMC. The cleanup process was expected to take one week, and an investigation had begun into what caused the mishap. In July 2008, a missile transport vehicle carrying an unarmed MM III tipped over near Minot due to operator error, causing more than $6 million in damage. (For more read Tuesday’s Associated Press report (via The Dickinson Press))
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.