Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) will be the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee when the 112th Congress convenes in January, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), outgoing committee chairman, announced last week. Smith has overseen the HASC air and land forces subcommittee during the 111th Congress. He moves into the top minority spot since several of the longest-serving Democrat committee members, like Skelton, Rep. John Spratt (S.C.), and Rep. Gene Taylor (Miss.), aren’t returning after losing their re-lection bids. In related news, HASC Chairman-elect Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) announced the names of the new Republican committee members for the 112th: Rep. Mo Brooks (Ala.), Rep. Chris Gibson (N.Y.), Rep. Tim Griffin (Ark.), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (Mo.), Rep. Steve Palazzo (Miss.), Rep. Scott Rigell (Va.), Rep. Martha Roby (Ala.), Rep. Jon Runyan (N.J.), Rep. Bobby Schilling (Ill.), Rep. Austin Scott (Ga.), Allen West (Fla.), and Todd Young (Ind.).
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.