Some industry analysts are not buying the “opt out” declared by Northrop Grumman earlier this week, likening it to similar ones from both Boeing and Northrop in the original KC-X competition. Credit Suisse analyst Robert Spingarn reportedly stated in an...

Although a Pentagon spokesman Wednesday discounted the notion of changing requirements in the KC-X competition as outlined in the draft request for proposal just to entice Northrop Grumman to reconsider its threatened pull out, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the...

The threatened pull out from the KC-X tanker competition by Northrop Grumman prompted comments from lawmakers on both sides of the issue. In the Boeing camp, Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) commented that the Northrop-EADs team had tried this before and...

The Aerospace Industries Association has sent a letter signed by more than 100 company presidents urging the Obama Administration to fix some longstanding headaches regarding export controls. AIA president Marion Blakey told reporters Thursday there’s a lack of “coherency” in...

US government civilian employees may now opt for a 36-month, accompanied assignment to South Korea, according to a Dec. 2 release from the Air Force Personnel Center. DOD previously had approved longer tours for military personnel who wished to bring...

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn III told the Credit Suisse 2009 Aerospace and Defense Conference this week in New York that the Pentagon is concerned about “cost and schedule challenges” in the F-35 program. His words: “We don’t like some...

A Japanese Air Self Defense Force F-15J performing at an air show in Japan on Nov. 29 lost a section of its tail shortly after takeoff, prompting the JASDF to ground its fleet of F-15J fighters pending inspections, reports The...

The new mayor-elect of Warner Robins, Ga., Chuck Shaheen, said one of his first tasks will be to get the Georgia Robins Aerospace Maintenance Partnership, known as G-RAMP, moving in 2010. A central focus of G-RAMP is ensuring a sound...

Maj. Gen. Arvydas Pocius, chief of defense for the Republic of Lithuania, presented the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal of Merit to USAF Maj. Daniel Manning at Ramstein AB, Germany, last month, according to a Dec. 3 release, for his team’s...

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Nov. 29-30, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 56 51 107 15,823 CAS/Armed Recon 46 124 170 32,478 Airlift 300 300 45,209 Air refueling 71 71 15,926 Total 648 109,436 OIF=Operation Iraqi...