The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have signed an agreement to convert the current J model multi-year, commercial item contract to a traditional military procurement contract. The service had purchased 23 aircraft under the previous contract and plans to buy 39 more over the next three years under the new deal. USAF gets to review pricing on the first 23 and recoup any overpayment once it settles on a “final definitized price.” Air Force officials say the final price will not be more than previously paid, which they said was $66.5 million per aircraft.
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.