The union covering Boeing aerospace workers has a gripe about the business practices of EADS, whose executives may have acted upon insider information in stock trading, reports Donna Borak of Associated Press. The union would like for the Air Force to oust the Northrop Grumman-EADS North America team from the KC-X tanker competition. Of course, the Air Force needs to keep the Northrop team to preserve a competition. And, there’s the legislative aspect, with Alabama lawmaker Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) tacking a “merit, not politics” provision on the 2008 defense authorization bill.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.