The release of the request for proposal for the reopened KC-X tanker competition will not come until this week, if not later, reports The Hill, citing Pentagon sources. Pentagon acquisition officials had expected to issue the RFP last week. Boeing has thrown a wrench into Pentagon plans to complete the revised solicitation process readily and pick a winning tanker design by around the end of the year by requesting six months to properly prepare its new bid. Boeing is arguing that the draft revised solicitation issued in August points to a much different tanker than the company offered in the original KC-X contest. Northrop wants to see the process move forward unabated. It is confident that it will prevail again as it did in February in the original contest that was reopened after Boeing’s successful legal protest.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.