The crash-support unit at Ramstein AB, Germany, recently received two highly capable new crash tenders. “The new trucks are far superior; they almost double our firefighting capabilities,” said SSgt. Douglas Fox, a 86th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Station 1 crew chief. Built by Oshkosh Corp., of Oshkosh, Wis., the pair of Striker 3000 firefighting vehicles replaced the station’s 20-year-old P22 and P23 engines in a ceremony, Aug. 19. Equipped with an extendable “snozzle”—a piercing nozzle—the vehicles are able to pierce through wreckage to apply retardant directly to risk areas, allowing airmen “to extinguish fires without putting personnel in harm’s way,” explained SSgt. John Richi, 86th CES fire station 1 crew chief. The new trucks boast 70 mile-per-hour top speeds, vastly improving response times. Ramstein will eventually operate four Strikers. (Ramstein report by SSgt. Travis Edwards)
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.