Boeing spokesman Dan Beck, giving an account of how his company handled the recent inadvertent disclosure of a KC-X efficiency analysis meant only for Air Force eyes, said team members “train for these situations.” When the filename “K30B” popped up on an Air Force disc—the KC-30 is EADS’ tanker design—two Boeing employees removed the disc and “locked it in a tamper-proof safe without opening any files or viewing any data,” he said. They then alerted managers and “sealed the safe in the presence of a Boeing security officer,” he explained, They then called Air Force officials, who gave instructions “that were followed,” he continued. EADS North America chief Sean O’Keefe told reporters late last week that his employees likewise “immediately” packed up the errant data and returned it to the Air Force.
House lawmakers are encouraging the Air Force and U.S. Special Operations Command to work together as each pursues long-range, long-endurance reconnaissance drones. Both entities are investing in unmanned assets that can slip into highly defended areas, loiter over a particularly valuable target for days at a time, and traverse multiple…