Full-spectrum training has to be reconsidered, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Addressing AFA’s 2013 Air & Space Conference on Tuesday afternoon, Welsh said it “fell off the table” six or seven years ago but must be a focus. “Our job as an air force is to be ready to fight the high-end fight against the well-equipped, determined, well-trained foe,” he said. “I don’t know how big of a force we will have to do that, but whatever we have better be able to do that.” To maintain that readiness, exercises like Red Flag cannot continue to be canceled, he said, emphasizing the importance of figuring out how to fund it. “We need that training; our partners need that training,” he said. Welsh also referenced the negative effects of the cancellation of classes at the Air Force’s Weapons School and how it leads to a “gap” in the warfighter’s education for the rest of his or her career. “We can’t continue to allow that to happen,” he said.
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.