The Air Force planned to employ a C-17 from McChord AFB, Wash., to deliver passengers and cargo yesterday to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, thereby kicking off Operation Deep Freeze 2008-09, the US military’s support for US scientific research activities on the barren continent. (An active-duty and Air Force Reserve Command crew from McChord flew the last mission for the previous season in April.) According to a USAF release, the C-17 would fly multiple missions from Christchurch International Airport, New Zealand, the staging point for ODF, to McMurdo Station through Sept. 10 as part of the ODF ramp-up phase. The main body of military and civilian personnel plan to arrive in Antarctica in October.
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.
