At last word, the tanker analysis of alternatives is still under review, but the Air Force went ahead and issued a request for information last Friday from companies that might want to participate in a tanker competition. Leading Air Force critic, Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, reacted quickly, sending a letter of complaint to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday. The Air Force has withdrawn the RFI, which Air Force spokesman Col. Chris Geisel called “a bit premature,” according to Reuters news service. Read more in “The Tanker Blame Game” in September’s Air Force Magazine.
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…