President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan on Monday reinforced his commitment to allowing the US military to stay on his territory and use the Manas Air Base to support operations in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press. Bakiyev said the US is welcome to stay as long as it takes to bring stability to Afghanistan, but said that the rent for the base will increase.
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.
