Air 
National Guard KC-135 tanker units in six states recently swapped aircraft as part of a maintenance plan implemented by the Air Guard and Air Mobility Command, according to Air Guard officials. This initiative has two main goals: to arrange programmed depot maintenance schedules better so that one base isn’t short of airplanes for an extended period, and to prevent corrosion of the tankers by rotating them to other geographic regions, according to a Dec. 7 release from McGhee Tyson ANGB, Tenn., near Knoxville. Under the swap, the 134th Air Refueling Wing at McGhee Tyson and KC-135 units in Birmingham, Ala.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Topeka, Kan.; JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; and Milwaukee, Wisc., rotated one, and, in a few cases, two of their tankers to other units in this group. At the new home, maintainers repaint each KC-135’s nose art, localize its tail flash, and inspect it before it begins flying again, according to the release. (McGhee Tyson report by 2nd Lt. Nathan Wallin)
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.