Fourteen Senators signed a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne last week, urging the Air Force to stick to its plan to go sole source for the KC-X tanker replacement program. Various news media report that 52 Congressmen sent Wynne a similar letter. In August, the Air Force said that it would not seek a split-buy arrangement that would give some of the 179 aircraft to each of the two bidders. The Senators wrote: “We write to express our strong support for your current acquisition strategy that will result in the selection of one tanker, not two. … A “split-buy” replacement strategy has been well debated … [and] proponents assert that this policy would reduce costs through enhanced competition and expand operational flexibility to the Air Force. We find these assertions to be fundamentally flawed.” In their view, a split-buy approach “removes all benefits associated with a competitive process by guaranteeing business to potential manufacturers.”
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
