Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne reports that he’s hopeful that World Trade Organization issues swirling around the aerial tanker competition will all be resolved by the time a contract is awarded next summer. Subsidy issues with European aircraft—affecting the Northrop Grumman-EADS tanker offer—surfaced in the draft request for proposals. Wynne acknowledged the issue could “derail” a timely tanker award.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

