Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers last week that the service expects to award a KC-X tanker contract in January, not Feb. 29 as staffers for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) told media in Mobile. Perhaps there is some confusion with the CSAR-X combat search and rescue helicopter program award, which Wynne said USAF now expects to award in mid-February. At an Oct. 24 House Armed Services Committee hearing, Wynne said on the KC-X award, “We right now are treating both competitors with extreme fairness. … We have done a very serious look at what they’ve done, and I still hope that we can by January of next year come to an agreement and award the KC-X contract, and that’s where I’m aiming.”
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.