Several press reports say Pentagon acquisition chief Ken Kreig has given the green light for the Air Force to re-engage its effort to find an aerial refueling aircraft replacement. The first step will be a formal request for information, which Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin tells the Mobile Register should go out within the next few weeks to the two known competitors—Boeing and the Northrop Grumman-EADS team. (USAF had released an RFI last fall, only to have to call it back as “premature.”) Irwin indicated the Pentagon expects to take the next step, issuing a request for proposals, by early fall and could reach a decision in early 2007. Krieg is scheduled to hold a press briefing at the Pentagon late today.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…