A gunman killed two airmen and wounded two additional airmen in a shooting Wednesday at Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt, Germany. One of the airmen killed was a vehicle operator stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, while the other airman who died was a member of a security forces team at RAF Lakenheath, England, US Air Forces in Europe officials announced Thursday. One of the wounded airmen is in critical condition in a German hospital in Frankfurt, while the other is in serious condition, they said. The shooting occurred on an Air Force bus that was outside an airport terminal to transport a 15-member security forces team from the airport to Ramstein. The team was on its way to Afghanistan for a deployment. German authorities have the shooter in custody. The Air Force was withholding the release of the airmen’s names pending notification of kin. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those impacted by this senseless act of violence,” said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. (See also Ramstein’s Wednesday release, Donley-Schwartz statement, President Obama’s remarks, AFPS release, 48th FW commander video statement, Wall Street Journal report, and Voice of America report) (See also Wednesday’s initial coverage)
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.