The Air Force must make sure it continues to properly fund legacy aircraft programs even as it builds to the F-35’s initial operational capability, said Air Force Reserve Chief Lt. Gen. James Jackson on Monday during AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference. “We still have the sustainment of legacy F-16s and A-10s that are basically still in the fleet. We have to make sure we are doing everything we can to make sure we have the capacity and capability in those pipelines,” he said. He added, “We can’t accept the risk of losing airmen based on the fact that we didn’t give them the equipment that they need.”
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.