It turns out that the press reports from early October were correct. The F-22 will indeed be making its debut appearance in the Middle East next month by performing in the Dubai Air Show in the United Arab Emirates. In a release Thursday, Air Forces Central said the F-22 is “scheduled to perform an aerial demonstration” at the show, which runs Nov. 15-19. Normally the F-22 demonstration team, based at Langley AFB, Va., sends two Raptors to an air show and each performs over the course of the show, 1st Fighter Wing spokeswoman 1st Lt. Georganne Schultz told the Daily Report Thursday. AFCENT said a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet is also scheduled to perform at Dubai, and there will be static displays of a C-130, E-3 AWACS, F-15, MQ-1 Predator, Navy E-2C and F/A-18E/F, and an Army Shadow remotely piloted vehicle.
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.