If the Air Force must break its fixed-price contract with Boeing for the KC-46A tanker due to budget sequestration, it might end up paying more for the new tankers and perhaps acquiring less of them over time, said Gen. Larry Spencer, Air Force vice chief of staff, last week. “I’d say upfront that we wouldn’t at this point plan to cancel the contract,” he told the House Armed Services Committee on Sept. 20 during a hearing on sequestration’s impact. He continued, “But depending on the amount of the cut” to the KC-46 program, “we would have to open up that contract” to revise the payment schedule. Should that happen, “I would guess the contractor would then talk to us about, ‘OK, well, we can’t give you as many airplanes on the schedule that you asked for.’ Or, ‘We may have to stretch out the airplanes.’ Or, ‘By the way, we may have to charge you more because now the contract’s back open,'” explained Spencer. He said there’ve been no “specific conversations with the contractor” yet on this issue. (Spencer’s joint prepared remarks) (See also Not a Pretty Picture.)
Celebrating 100 Years of Liquid-Fueled Rockets
March 11, 2026
March 16, 2026, marks 100 years since Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Over the past century, new and ever more capable liquid-fueled rockets have literally propelled humanity into space. Why liquid-fueled rockets?