An MH-53 Pave Low helicopter crew (Knife 04) from the 20th Special Operations Squadron rescues another 20th SOS MH-53 crew whose helicopter had gone down while the two were on a rescue mission in extremely hazardous weather conditions in the mountains of Afghanistan. Knife 04 received the 2001 Mackay Trophy.
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.
