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 Department of the Air Force has identified 50 programs that will make up the core of its contribution to the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control effort, branding them part of the “DAF Battle Network,” according to newly-released budget documents. The DAF Battle Network programs span multiple offices and agencies…