EADS/Airbus have not yet informed the Defense Department if it will bid on the KC-X tanker contract, and they better do so soon, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said Thursday. Speaking at an Aerospace Industries Association-sponsored event in the US Capitol, Lynn said that the Pentagon will need some notice “sufficiently ahead of May 10,” the deadline for tanker bid submissions, if the company expects to be accommodated in its request for an extension of the filing deadline. “I think they’re on the verge of a decision,” Lynn said. “I think we’ll know quite soon.”
A new Air Force organization is searching for counter-drone firms to participate in a dozen or more exercises to help create operating plans by the end of this year for defending the service’s U.S.-based installations from drone attacks.