The Air Force completed 19,600 intra-theater sorties, delivered 183,600 tons of cargo, and moved more than 441,000 passengers for Operation Enduring Freedom from the time President Obama announced the surge of 30,000 troops to Afghanistan last December to the end of July. These data come straight from Air Mobility Command officials. In the month of May alone, USAF carried 68,000 passengers in support of operations in Afghanistan. Further, during the first seven months of 2010, 186,000 more passengers were moved than in those same seven months last year. (Scott report by MSgt. Scott T. Sturkol)
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.