After submitting its KC-X tanker proposal to the Air Force sometime before the July 9 deadline, EADS North American intends for its entire tanker capture team to set up shop in Mobile Ala. “Assembling our KC-45 tanker team in Mobile now reflects our commitment to provide … the most capable tanker as quickly as possible,” Guy Hicks, EADS North America spokesperson, told the Daily Report Monday. “We’ll be in place and ready to go on day one.” The team is currently working at various locations like Arlington, Va., but Sean O’Keefe, EADS North America president and CEO, told POLITICO, “as opposed to sitting around here in Oz,” EADS will send employees to Mobile to prepare for a Defense Department survey. According to a blog entry for Mobile’s Press-Register posted June 11, the transfer will involve more than 100 employees. Beyond the tanker capture team, EADS has pledged to build a new facility in Mobile to assemble the KC-X tankers if it prevails over Boeing in the high-stakes tanker contest.
The Pentagon has concluded a new agreement to buy laser-guidance kits that turn rockets into drone-killing weapons. BAE Systems and the Defense Department announced a framework deal of up to seven years for 25,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance kits annually for the U.S. military.