The Air Force and Boeing have agreed on a plan to replace the cameras and other components of the KC-46’s remote vision system, addressing the biggest flaw with the service's new tanker. As part of the deal, the company will receive $882 million of previously withheld money, providing Boeing with additional cash flow. The announcement came the same day Boeing offered more than 153,000 employees a voluntary buyout. The new system will include an overhaul of the plane’s technology, to include new 4k color cameras with proper viewing geometry, larger and higher definition screens for the boom operator, a laser ranger for refueling aircraft distance measurement, and augmented reality. “We wanted to send a clear signal in the deal that this is our tanker for the future,” USAF acquisition chief Will Roper said.

Aeromedical flight crews are training at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., on an older isolation system for transporting highly infectious patients by air, even as the Air Force rapidly develops and tests a newer and more elaborate system for the mission. Testing on the C-17 is underway, and test flights are expected later this month. The capability is being readied in response to the need to move COVID-19-infected personnel. Air Force Materiel Command said it is working “in the most expeditious manner possible.” An initial flight test of the new isolation pod is expected in April.

Work is kicking off to bring fifth-generation wireless network-enabled tools to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The Defense Department recently released its final requests for prototype proposals as it looks to experiment with 5G’s military applications at Hill, JBLM, Naval Base San Diego, Calif., and Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga. The new generation of wireless technology promises to be a game-changer for the Pentagon, though it has much to learn about the specifics of using that technology.

The Air Force and U.S. Africa Command skirted Congressional oversight, didn’t adequately complete a site survey, and didn’t meet safety requirements in building a new operating base in Niger, leading to extended delays, cost overruns, and possibly unsafe conditions for personnel at Air Base 201, according to a newly released report from the Defense Department’s Inspector General. Niger Air Base 201 is the largest Air Force-led construction project in the service’s history, expected to be a hub of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations in the Sahel region of Africa and capable of C-17 operations. The IG report, released April 2, outlines a list of issues with the construction process, though U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa disputed the findings, saying it "accomplished the construction of an ISR and C-17 capable airfield in an operationally challenging environment with changing requirements during the construction period.”

The Space Development Agency has released its draft request for proposals for an initial batch of 20 data-relay satellites known as the “Tranche 0 transport layer.” Pentagon officials see the transport layer as a way to unify the various space-based sensors that are part of the Air Force-led joint all-domain command-and-control vision, SDA Director Derek Tournear told reporters April 2. SDA will accept feedback on its draft RFP through mid-April, publish the final solicitation May 1, and issue contracts to at least two companies in August. The agency aims to launch a functional transport layer for test and training purposes at the end of fiscal 2022.