It’s fairly rare to see nose art on USAF aircraft today and rarer still when it appears on an aerial refueling aircraft, but Air Force Reserve Command’s 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker AFB, Okla., got Darby Perrin, a well-known aviation artist, to paint a special 50th anniversary emblem on the nose of KC-135R tail No. 58-0063. (AFRC had an inside track because Perrin is a Reserve master sergeant and tanker boom operator with the 507th ARW.) The nose art marks 50 years of service by the KC-135, which first flew on Aug. 31, 1956. (Read more here about KC-135 golden events at Tinker.)
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.