Will We See the Donald Report: Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday he is not sure if the Pentagon leadership intends to release the so-called “Donald report,” which is currently a classified work. “My objective would be to learn as much from this as we possibly can … and move forward. How we do that, I am just not sure,” Mullen told defense reporters in Washington, D.C. At the request of Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Adm. Kirkland Donald investigated the case of the mistaken shipment of Minuteman III ICBM components to Taiwan in 2006. The case came to light only in March of this year. Donald’s findings, highlighted by Gates during a June 5 press briefing, criticized USAF for alleged systemic shortcomings in its stewardship of nuclear weapons and materials. This led Gates to ask for the resignations of Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley. At this point, Mullen said, “The Air Force leadership has certainly seen it.”
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.