“There’s no question about it” the KC-X tanker request for proposals “is very much about replacing the KC-135; that is definitionally a different airplane than the one we’re offering,” EADS North America CEO Sean O’Keefe said Tuesday at a press conference announcing the company’s intention to seek the contract. However, noting that the RFP simply requires “pass/fail” on 372 criteria, he emphasized that the KC-45 will pass “all 372, and that becomes a distinct advantage.” He said USAF and the Pentagon have made clear “here are the criteria you need to pass,” so the process should “yield an answer without a lot of subjective judgments.” Ralph Crosby, EADS North America chairman, said that at that point “the key discriminator is price.” O’Keefe also noted his company is a US entity that has created a structure to handle the 30 or so classified requirements to ensure they aren’t shared overseas.
Watchdog Says Military Can Make Cyber Ops More Efficient
Sept. 17, 2025
The Government Accountability Office called for paring down the military's sprawling cyber enterprise in a recent report, amid renewed discussion about standing up a separate cyber force.
