Boeing is stepping up its effort to secure the contract for the Air Force’s next aerial refueling aircraft. Roxana Tiron of The Hill reports that Boeing plans to send out a summer barrage of press releases to the “top 18 states with high stakes in the tanker program.” The focus would be on the 44,000 US jobs the company now says a program to build 179 new tankers, dubbed KC-X, would support. Both Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS have their Congressional supporters. The KC-X is now USAF’s top acquisition priority, and the program would grow beyond the initial buy.
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
