A Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, told Reuters news service Thursday that the Pentagon might entertain “reasonable extensions” in the KC-X tanker bid process “if necessary.” There has been some speculation that EADS might request such an extension to enter the competition sans Northrop Grumman, which withdrew the Northrop-EADS team from the bidding process earlier this month. However, Whitman said the Pentagon hasn’t received an extension request. Louis Gallois, EADS CEO, told reporters in New York earlier on Thursday that the existing 60-day timeframe for response to the request for proposals, makes it “impossible for anybody, even for Lockheed Martin, to build a solution,” according to a Bloomberg news service report (via Business Week).
As the Space Force prepares to field new fleets of satellites that can track moving targets in the air and on the ground, it’s working to ensure it has the organizational structures in place to onboard and operate those systems.
