A precision airstrike by USAF F-16s killed the Taliban fighters responsible for shooting down the CH-47 helicopter Aug. 6, which killed all 38 US and Afghan troops on board, Marine Corps Gen. John Allen told reporters via satellite connection Aug. 10. Speaking during his first press briefing since taking command of international security forces in Afghanistan, Allen said special operators tracked down Taliban leader Mullah Mohibullah and the insurgent who fired the fatal shot as they were attempting to flee the country. Coalition forces ordered the airstrike around midnight Aug. 8 in a continuation of a mission to dismantle an enemy network in Wardak province, reported AFPS. “This does not ease our loss, but we must, and we will, continue to relentlessly pursue the enemy,” said Allen. The Pentagon officially announced the names of those lost Thursday. The airmen killed were: TSgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla.; SSgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif.; TSgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa. All three airmen were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Field, N.C.
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.