Things will be different in this CSAR-X go-around (see above), the Air Force’s senior acquisition official Sue Payton said Thursday. She told Pentagon reporters: “I’m very pleased that we have great support from the Army and the Navy. They will be helping us with the source selection.” This appears to be a growing trend. Payton likened the assist from other service acquisition personnel to the Army-Air Force work on the Joint Cargo Aircraft program and other work the Air Force has done on Navy acquisition efforts. “We’re doing some cross-fertilization here,” Payton said, adding that the Navy and Army have excellent domain knowledge on helicopters, so will be able to leverage that in the selection process.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.