Boeing is hot to unveil its plan for a new tanker replacement aircraft, particularly since Northrop Grumman has announced its offering—an Airbus A330 knockoff. (DR, 09/08/05) Speaking at the AFA conference Tuesday, Boeing’s George Muellner said the Global Tanker Team currently at work on aerial tankers for Italy and Japan has agreed to partner to develop a new tanker. The GTT comprises Boeing, Smiths Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Vought Aircraft, Aeronavali (Italy), Honewell, GE, and Pratt & Whitney. The proposed aircraft? Boeing’s KC-767, which Muellner says completed its initial flight testing with the Italian Air Force.
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…