The Air Force has awarded Boeing $299.8 million to produce the fourth Wideband Gap Filler satellite.The award represents the first option under the WGS Block II contract given to Boeing last month. The program potentially is worth about $1.1 billion. WGS-4 is slated for launch in early 2011.
Bell Textron has won DARPA's contest for a no-runway, high-speed drone that will prove out technologies useful for special operations forces and possibly the Air Force's Agile Combat Employment concept. Bell's design converts a tiltrotor to a jet-powered aircraft able to fly at up to 450 knots.