The Air Force has converted its C-130J multiyear purchase contract with Lockheed Martin from a commercial type procurement arrangement to a traditional military contract. An Air Force press release noted that the rewickered deal repriced 39 aircraft, saving the government $168 million. The service has been working on this new arrangement for almost a year and indicated last February that it would get to review pricing on 23 aircraft under a previous contract. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has been riding USAF to get the lead out on this revamp, but the Air Force maintained it needed to move slowly to ensure it got the best deal. Calculating from an original $66.5 million per aircraft, it now appears USAF is paying about $62.2 million per aircraft.
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
