EADS North America has announced that it won’t protest the Air Force’s award of the KC-X tanker contract to Boeing. The Air Force ran an “extremely professional” and “scrupulous” competition, Ralph Crosby, EADS North America chairman, told reporters during a press conference March 4 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the company’s decision. USAF officials did “everything they said they would” during the source-selection process,” leaving “nothing to hang a protest on,” he said. “The Air Force looks forward to the long-awaited recapitalization of its air refueling fleet,” service spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said in a statement released following the company’s announcement. Boeing’s tanker spokesman Bill Barksdale, in a statement issued after EADS’ event, said: “We understand the importance of this effort to our customer and the country and stand ready, along with our nationwide team of suppliers, to go to work on the new KC-46A program.” Continue to Cleared for Takeoff. (See also our initial coverage)
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…