Gen. Tom Hobbins, head of US Air Forces in Europe, and an Air Force cohort are in central Russia, where they will receive facility tours and see various Russian aircraft, reports the Russian news service RIA Novosti. Hobbins plans to meet with Russian Air Force officials during the four-day visit and may get to fly on a Su-27 Flanker or MiG-29 Fulcrum.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.