That’s the view of Sen. John McCain who told Reuters news service at the Reuters Washington Summit this week that he would like to see the Government Accountability Office—or some independent watchdog—oversee the new KC-X tanker contract award. He suggests the GAO, as chief Congressional watchdog, would be good to “track it along the way,” reports Reuters. McCain asserted, “I would trust their judgment as to whether the whole process is biased toward one side or the other.” Already, Northrop Grumman and its supporters are crying foul over release to Boeing of the company’s pricing data from the first award—the one Northrop and teammate EADS won. According to Reuters, McCain does not favor, as do some lawmakers, buying two tankers to avoid a political quagmire and inevitable protests.
The Air Force just got its hands on its first operational T-7A trainer jet, and officials are already thinking about adding a slew of upgrades—including some that could help the service use the Red Hawk to train less experienced pilots.