The tyranny of distance and transnational threats, such as drug and human trafficking, are the biggest challenges to African nations, said Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, during AFA’s Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Monday. “The bottom line is you can put three United States in Africa, and that’s what we have to deal with. And if you know anything about Africa, it’s not like there are a whole lot of airports and roads that allow you to truck stuff and put stuff” where you need it to be prepared,” said Gorenc. Because of that, Gorenc said one of the biggest needs in Africa is mobility. “Some elegant mobility solutions would allow services of those countries to do some really good things with respect to challenges they have across the board,” he said.
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.
