Days after the formal comment period on the Air Force’s KC-X tanker draft request for proposals closed, Northrop Grumman officials publicly expressed their displeasure with the current format of the competition during a press conference Wednesday in Washington D.C. They said they had voiced their concerns to the Air Force during this initial feedback phase. They also intimated that the company reserved the right to withdraw from the contest if key concerns about proprietary information from the last competition are not resolved. The rebooted KC-X is “fundamentally different” than the requirements worked out in the last competition, said Mitch Waldman, Northrop’s vice president of business development for advanced aerospace programs and technology. Continue
There's a growing consensus among experts, lawmakers, and Pentagon leaders that the Air Force should buy more than the planned minimum of 100 B-21 stealth bombers. Exactly how many more is a question USAF will likely answer in its 2028 budget request, the service’s top planner said May 13.