US Central Command confirmed May 15 that another successful air strike had been carried out recently against enemy forces in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. The air strike—this time by A-10 aircraft and a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to Bagram Air Base—killed at least four enemy fighters and destroyed a truck and cave complex, in which they had stored rockets. (Earlier this month, a strike by F-15Es destroyed another cave complex.) Afghan National Army and US ground forces had seen men moving rockets from the cave and linked them to recent attacks on a nearby coalition base. The A-10 and Predator aircraft fired precision guided munitions against the target, sealing the cave complex.
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
