According to the water-cooler talk amongst defense analysts and industry types, AugustaWestland’s US101 is leading the pack to win the competition for the Air Force’s new combat search and rescue vehicle, known as CSAR-X. The Lexington Institute’s Loren Thompson tells Gannet News Service that he doesn’t hear much support in the Air Force for “buying anything else than the US101.”
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
