Daily Report

Feb. 24, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Boeing Wins KC-X Tanker Contest

The Air Force has chosen Boeing’s 767-based NewGen Tanker to be its new KC-X aerial refueling aircraft under an acquisition program with an estimated value of more than $30 billion. Secretary Michael Donley announced the decision during a Pentagon briefing...

Tanker Decision Thursday

It’s official. The Defense Department will announce the winner of the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contract on Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. East Coast time. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will join Deputy...

Continuing Woes

The Air Force will have a tough time meeting Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ directed goal of having 65 MQ-1 Predator/MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft combat air patrols in place by 2013 if Congress doesn’t approve a Fiscal 2011 defense spending...

Ready to START Inspections

Defense Threat Reduction Agency nuclear weapons inspectors are “ready to go” and “waiting for the call” to carry out the first round of strategic arms inspections in Russia allowed under the New START arms reduction agreement, Kenneth Myers, DTRA director,...

Building for Affordability

The decade of increasing defense budgets is over and the Pentagon needs to rein in some of its pie-in-the-sky investment ideas and shape programs around affordability, said Defense Department acquisition executive Ashton Carter. “Our first effort has to be affordability,...

Strategic Cleansing

The first step as the Air Force begins implementing the nuclear force limits under New START will be to eliminate “phantom” strike platforms in the US inventory, said Gen. Robert Kehler, head of US Strategic Command. “There are some systems...

New ACLM must be Nuclear-Capable, Stealthy

As the Air Force’s Air Launched Cruise Missile nears the end of its service life, “Clearly now’s the time to begin that effort to do the follow-on missile,” said Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, Air Force Global Strike Command boss. A...

Virtual World Versus Reality

The Air Force’s cyber operations arm, 24th Air Force at Lackland AFB, Tex., has received orders to spend a little less time in the virtual world and get more involved in real-world training exercises. “Right now we do a lot...

Bridging the Gap in Cyber Expertise

A joint panel of cyber experts from the Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps said their individual commands are relying on National Guard and Reserve forces to bridge capability gaps until the noncommissioned officer corps in their respective services gain...

Building a Capable Cyber Force

Army and Marine Corps leaders are working on building capable cyber forces that don’t just react to emergency situations. To do that, there needs to be a “significant change in the mindset to operational cyber,” said Army Col. Timothy Chafos,...

And Then There’s MALD

The Air Force is anticipating that the jammer variant of its Miniature Air Launched Decoy will receive the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s blessing this summer to enter production, according to recently released budget documents accompanying the service’s Fiscal...

Smooth Landings Ahead at Lajes

The Air Force and Portugal’s defense ministry are teaming to repave the 10,870 foot runway, taxiways, and associated overruns at Lajes Air Base in the Azores. The last time they were resurfaced was back in 1987. Workers have already completed...