An 8th Air Force inspection team descended upon Whiteman AFB, Mo., last week, bringing with it a weapons loading event dubbed Giant Sword II. “The event is a resurrection of the highly competitive [Strategic Air Command] bomb loading competition,” said 1st Lt. Jason Christopher, Whiteman’s Giant Sword II point man. Whiteman weapons loaders are first up, but the 8th AF inspection team plans to conduct the event at the bomb wings in Louisiana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas over the next few months and host a symposium in March at Barksdale AFB, La., where they will announce the winners. “In the weapons community, we have a lot of heritage and camaraderie,” said SrA. Cody McConnell, a weapons load evaluator with Whiteman’s 509th Munitions Squadron. SAC began its Giant Sword competition in 1958. (Whiteman report by SrA. Stephen Linch)
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.