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.
Active-Duty Airmen only have a few days left to submit an official waist-to-height ratio into the Air Force’s new online application. But the service clarified July 23 that this first body composition measurement is not meant to be scored as part of the new Physical Fitness Readiness Assessment, or PFRA