According to a news release put out by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Pentagon had changed its mind about allowing five Able Danger personnel to testify publicly in the committee’s probe of the data-mining operation. Specter’s statement said they would testify at a committee hearing Oct. 5. That’s news to Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman. Whitman told the Associated Press that DOD’s concerns “have not changed,” but discussions were continuing on the matter. The Senator’s office begs to differ. A spokesman said the two parties had reached an agreement. And, the hearing will be public.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.