The Air Force’s long-awaited—and long-delayed—tanker analysis of alternatives is set to be released around Dec. 16. However, it is likely to be a slim document. The RAND study includes proprietary information from Boeing, Airbus, and other companies that cannot be released, so chances are the public version will amount to little more than an executive summary. Word is that the AOA also does not identify an optimum solution—but a range of choices and costs.
The Air Force is in talks with Boeing to modify requirements for its new VC-25B presidential aircraft, in a push to get them into service by 2027. Boeing has given the Air Force a revised timeline that could bring the VC-25B aircraft earlier “if adjustments are made to requirements,” a…