This year’s joint expeditionary force experiment (JEFX 10-3) that kicks off April 12 at the Nevada Test and Training Range on Nellis AFB, Nev., will focus on validating innovations to plug existing capability gaps in prosecuting irregular warfare. Airmen and their participating Army and Navy brethren at Nellis and distributed sites across the continental US will evaluate 13 different initiatives during the 12-days of activities. Among them are remotely piloted aircraft that protect moving ground convoys, technology to prevent terrorists from downloading RPA video feeds, a new means of bringing together blue force tracking with Link 16, and novel airborne networks. JEFX is a Chief of Staff-directed event that combines live, virtual, and constructive forces to assess the viability of experimental initiatives. (Langley release) (For more, see the Air Force’s JEFX Web page.)
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.