Air Force acquisition leader Sue Payton told reporter Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg News that the service wants to get a fixed price for 80 aircraft out of a planned initial buy of 179 for its KC-X tanker replacement program. And, Payton says the Air Force is taking a very deliberate, document-every-step approach to ensure it can show the losing contractor “exactly why they lost.” Earlier this month the Air Force revealed to Congress that the contract award probably would not be made until late December. The service plans subsequent buys of new tankers, in two more increments spanning a 40-year replacement plan—there’s no money to work more quickly. (Bloomberg article via Seattle Post-Intelligencer.)
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
