Pentagon officials plan to brief Congress today on the new KC-X tanker replacement draft request for proposals and release the draft RFP by Friday, reports Bloomberg News (via Seattle Times). And a Reuters news service report quoting Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) confirms that same timing. The troubled acquisition program is back in the Air Force’s hands, per the announcement last week by Defense Secretary Robert Gates at AFA’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C. Even before getting out of the starting gate, KC-X has problems, since Tiahrt and other Boeing proponents want the Administration to consider the recent World Trade Organization preliminary ruling, while Northrop Grumman-EADS proponents are equally adamant it should have no bearing on the renewed tanker contest. Stay tuned.
The Space Force has adopted a more incremental approach to migrating new and legacy orbital warfare systems onto a consolidated, cloud-based command-and-control platform, according to the head of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office.