According to various lawmakers, the Pentagon does plan to recompete the Air Force’s KC-X tanker program award, following the Government Accountability Office rejection of the process that awarded the program to Northrop Grumman/EADS in February. Defense Secretary Robert Gates intends to announce same today. (See coverage in July 10 Daily Report column.) DOD and Air Force acquisition officials are slated to appear before a House panel Thursday (see below).
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.