Air Force fighters will patrol the skies Feb. 1 around Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., as the Arizona Cardinals battle the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII. The fighters will enforce the FAA’s temporary flight restriction zone over the Tampa area during the championship game, NORAD said in a release Jan. 28. Customs and Border Patrol assets will also be airborne during the event. “We want citizens to know that we are always on the job, and defending our homeland from air threats is our No. 1 priority,” said Maj. Gen. Henry “Hank” Morrow, commander of NORAD’s Continental US region. Last year, Air Force fighters protected the airspace around Phoenix when that city hosted Super Bowl XLII.
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.
