Although the Defense Department has orders from Congress to plan for a possible intervention or no-fly zone in Syria, NATO is not working on any mirror effort, Lt. Gen. Ralph Jodice, Allied Air Component Command chief in Izmir, Turkey, told the Daily Report on Tuesday. “If the US is planning, it’s doing stuff on its own,” said Jodice, explaining that there’s been no directive from the North Atlantic Council to outline a similar action. “Has there been prudent operational thinking going on? Yes,” said Jodice, who was in Arlington, Va., on Feb. 12 to speak at an AFA-Air Force Breakfast Program event. “But there’s no formal planning at this point,” he added. Jodice also noted that his organization is folding up shop as NATO consolidates its air headquarters functions at Ramstein AB, Germany, under a cost-cutting initiative. The June 1 closure at Izmir will mean an increase from 350 to 500 NATO air staff at Ramstein, said Jodice, who is retiring, effective July 1.
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.