Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz wants to make sure that the service’s future acquisition programs benefit from the lessons that officials have drawn from the KC-X tanker procurement process. “We learned tough lessons in the recent KC-X air refueling tanker procurement competition, so you can expect that the recent awarding of the KC-46A contract will serve as the standard for open, fair, and disciplined acquisition as we move forward,” Schwartz said Wednesday at an industry conference in Arlington, Va. The Air Force late last month chose Boeing’s 767-based tanker, now called the KC-46A, over EADS North America’s A330-based KC-45 to replace its oldest KC-135s. This is the Air Force’s third attempt in about a decade to move forward with a new tanker. EADS officials have several days yet to decide whether to challenge the Air Force’s decision or let it stand. “I urge that we respect the decision and allow this important procurement to proceed unimpeded,” said Schwartz. (Schwartz speech full text)
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
