Contrary to a joint statement issued last month by members of Utah’s Congressional delegation, the Air Force has not made a decision to perform many of the maintenance tasks associated with MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Utah, according to Air Force Materiel Command. That statement, “was in error,” AFMC spokesman Capt. Bob Everdeen told the Daily Report yesterday. In fact, Everdeen said, the Air Force’s process of assigning repair work is still ongoing. A decision, however, “will most likely be made” sometime later this year, he said. To date, UAV maintenance responsibility has been partially assigned only for the RQ-4 Global Hawk, with each of the Air Force’s three ALCs (Ogden on the grounds of Hill AFB, Utah; Oklahoma City at Tinker AFB, Okla.; and Warner Robins at Robins AFB, Ga.) designated for maintaining several of its subsystems, said Everdeen. Not surprisingly, the joint statement has been removed from the Web site of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), where it was originally posted. (For more, read yesterday’s Macon Telegraph report.)
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.