Air Force Special Operations Command’s unmanned aerial vehicle squadron formerly established at Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases in Nevada, has now formally moved to Cannon AFB, N.M. An Oct. 8 ceremony at Cannon sealed the movement of the 3rd Special Operations Squadron and installed its new commander, Lt. Col. Robert Brock. The 3rd SOS received high praise from Lt. Gen. Donald Wurster, AFSOC commander, last month at AFA’s Air & Space Conference, when he called it an example of “industrial strength airpower.” Wurster said AFSOC’s sole UAV unit is one of the service’s most in-demand units for the war on terror. Once the unit is at full strength at Cannon, in about six to eight months, it will have more than 300 personnel. The unit has been providing MQ-1 Predator capabilities from Nellis/Creech since May 2007, when it received a transfer of UAVs and personnel from Air Combat Command. AFSOC activated the squadron in late 2005. (Includes Cannon report by Capt. Mae-Li Allison)
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.