The Air Force has been talking with lawmakers behind the scenes over the past few weeks and already has run its yet-to-be-released final request for proposals around Capitol Hill, reports the Congressional newspaper The Hill. The service has been put on notice by Northrop Grumman, who fears its Northrop-EADS team KC-30 will not fare well in a head-to-head with Boeing’s KC-767, that it may opt out of the competition. If so, then there is no competition, and that would sour the entire program for key lawmakers. Both Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), leader of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) want a “real” competition.
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
