The move to co-locate Airbus A330 freighter production at the KC-30 assembly site (see above) calls for expansion of the Mobile, Ala., tanker production site by 20 percent and would create “at least” 300 additional positions on top of the 1,000 currently estimated for Air Force tanker production, EADS said yesterday. The expanded site would be capable of producing up to four aircraft per month and have the flexibility to support military and civil customers. Depending on when the Air Force chooses the KC-X winner, construction of the facility could begin in late 2008, EADS said. As part of Northrop Grumman‘s KC-30 team, EADS would be responsible for delivering flight-qualified aircraft to Northrop Grumman. The US aerospace giant would then take the aircraft and militarize them.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.