Le Bourget, France —Boeing was “getting calls within minutes of the announcement” that it had won the KC-X contract about possible foreign sales of the airplane, said Chris Chadwick, Boeing Military Aircraft president. Speaking with reporters here Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, Chadwick said there is a “tremendous number” of potential foreign sales of the KC-46, though he declined to specify particular countries. With the Air Force’s plans to buy 179 aircraft, the price of the KC-46 is likely to be very competitive, Chadwick suggested, and additional foreign orders could ease unit costs further. However, “we have to focus 200 percent” on getting the aircraft developed and built to Air Force requirements first, he said.
The design of the launch facilities for the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile are likely to undergo major revision, posing yet another challenge for the much-delayed and over-budget program to modernize the land-based component of America’s nuclear triad, officials said.