Eager to get in the game for the next Air Force tanker, the Northrop Grumman-EADS team said Tuesday that it had submitted its KC-30 offering ahead of the April 12 request for proposal response date. In a company statement, Scott Seymour, corporate VP, said the KC-30, an Airbus 330 derivative, would provide everything USAF has asked for and more—“more refueling capacity, more versatility against an uncertain future, more capability, and more value per aircraft.” The statement also noted that the Northrop-led team’s proposal was the culmination of more than 2.5 years of work. And, Northrop claims its KC-30 tanker “meets or exceeds Air Force requirements for every key performance parameter far better than any competitor.”
The Department of the Air Force has identified 50 programs that will make up the core of its contribution to the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control effort, branding them part of the “DAF Battle Network,” according to newly-released budget documents. The DAF Battle Network programs span multiple offices and agencies…