Boeing is hot to unveil its plan for a new tanker replacement aircraft, particularly since Northrop Grumman has announced its offering—an Airbus A330 knockoff. (DR, 09/08/05) Speaking at the AFA conference Tuesday, Boeing’s George Muellner said the Global Tanker Team currently at work on aerial tankers for Italy and Japan has agreed to partner to develop a new tanker. The GTT comprises Boeing, Smiths Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Vought Aircraft, Aeronavali (Italy), Honewell, GE, and Pratt & Whitney. The proposed aircraft? Boeing’s KC-767, which Muellner says completed its initial flight testing with the Italian Air Force.
The F-47 fighter will be run differently than previous fighter programs and share the same mission systems architecture as the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told the Senate Armed Services Committee. That means advances in one will fuel advances in the other.