The second of Australia’s new A330-based tankers touched down at Dover AFB, Del., on Oct. 29 for a stopover during its long journey from Australia to Spain, where it will undergo military certification testing. This aircraft stopped the previous day at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. The Royal Australian Air Force has ordered five new tankers from EADS, which are “nearly identical in configuration” to the tanker that Northrop Grumman’s team is offering the US Air Force in the KC-X competition, EADS said in a release. “The arrival on our shores of a fully-equipped tanker for an allied nation is yet another demonstration that the Northrop Grumman team is ready now with a low-risk solution,” said Ralph Crosby, EADS North America’s Chairman and CEO, looking to the US contest.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
