Mine-clearing personnel at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, found an 1,100-pound Russian penetrating bomb containing 167 pounds of explosives about 200 feet from the base’s runway. Normally, an explosive ordnance disposal team would blow unexploded ordnance in place, but, in this case, its proximity to the runway presented a problem. EOD airmen dug a trench and built up a mound of dirt around the big bomb, then placed a C-4 high-explosives charge to blow it up. Officials say the weapon was left over from the Afghan-Soviet Union war of the 1980s.
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.
