A number of bidders are lining up behind the recently released request for proposals for the new combat search and rescue aircraft, dubbed CSAR-X. The program potentially would produce 141 helicopters for an estimated $8 billion contract. Likely candidates include: a variant of Boeing’s CH-47 Chinook, the US101 from the Lockheed Martin/AgustaWestland team, and the HH-92 from Sikorsky. According to Gannett News Service, Boeing and Bell may offer the V-22 Osprey. USAF plans to make the contract award in May 2006.
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
