The Pentagon is partnering with a consortium of 162 corporations, universities, and nonprofits to establish the FlexTech Alliance, a manufacturing innovation institute for bendable and wearable electronic devices, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced Aug. 28. DOD will invest $75 million in the project, which will help ensure that pioneering innovations “will happen right here in America,” Carter said during the announcement in California. The initiative is part of Carter’s effort to rebuild bonds between the Defense Department and the tech industry, which he called one of his core goals. Flexible hybrid electronics have “enormous potential for our defense mission,” he said, and can also be transformative in the commercial realm. This is not DOD’s first investment in Silicon Valley this year?; the Pentagon also recently opened its Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), designed to connect the military with tech innovators. (Read more about the FlexTech Alliance initiative here.)
Boeing received a $2.47 billion Air Force contract Nov. 25 for 15 more KC-46s, bringing to 183 the number of Pegasus tankers on contract to all customers, foreign and domestic. The new contract—for Lot 12 of the initially planned KC-46 buy—is to be completed by 2029.
