US Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command decided to restore Misawa AB, Japan, as a stop for Patriot Express, contracting with North American Airlines to fly from Seattle to Misawa, Yokota, and Iwakuni in Japan. The Misawa stop starts Oct. 5 and will eliminate the need to take a fairly expensive commercial route through Tokyo via bus—a 12-hour trip—train or domestic flight. USTRANSCOM and AMC eliminated a number of Patriot Express flights, which provide both official and, when possible, space available seats, during a major restructuring of the program several years ago. (Misawa report by SrA. Stefanie Torres)
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.