An Air 
Force official has told Dow Jones Newswires that the service’s plan to become the lead agent for higher-flying unmanned aerial vehicles could save DOD some $1.7 billion over the next six years. Rebecca Christie reports that USAF’s technical advisor for intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance integration and planning, Bruce Nelson, attributes the savings primarily to reduced duplication of effort through “centralized purchases.” This is not the first time the Air Force has ventured down this road, and, once again, it has come under fire.
Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.