Officials opened a new 30-million-gallon jet fuel storage facility at Travis AFB, Calif., that they said will dramatically speed the fuel-delivery process. “It used to take between nine and 12 hours for the fuel to get here,” said MSgt. Scott Smith, 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of fuel logistics. “Now we have three tanks on base and it only takes 20 minutes to get it to the flight line,” he added. Instead of shipping fuel from Concord, 30 miles to the south, the new $50 million project pipes JP-8 fuel directly into underground reservoirs at the flight line, according to base officials. “We are continually looking for ways to be good stewards of resources and energy while effectively accomplishing our mission,” said Col. Dwight Sones, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, during the May 1 dedication ceremony. (Travis report by SSgt. Patrick Harrower)
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.