Turkey eyes Boeing’s KC-46, Airbus’ MRTT for its new tanker requirement
Turkish defense expert Barin Kayaoglu told Breaking Defense that the decision to buy new tankers is a “big need, and timely.”
Lockheed Unveils New Tanker Design: LMXT
Lockheed is offering an upgraded version of the Airbus A330 MRTT tanker used by NATO nations.
Michigan: Arsenal of Democracy for dangerous times
Michigan’s defense ecosystem and expertise makes it a special asset for production.
HASC Members Blast KC-46 Ahead Of 2022 NDAA
"There's a lot of retrofit that will have to take place," Gen. Stephen Lyons said about the replacement of the tanker's faulty boom camera.
Leaking KC-46 Fuel Lines Are Latest Serious Boeing Tanker Fault
The Air Force provided few details about the latest problem bedeviling the airborne tanker in its terse statement last night, saying only that it had "upgraded an existing deficiency of its KC-46 Pegasus fuel system to Category I."
SecAF Wilson Rips Boeing For More KC-46 Problems
As the Boeing tanker continues to see delays and cost overruns, the Air Force is airing its complaints.
New DIUX Software Saves Air Force Millions Of Pounds Of Airborne Tanker Gas A Month
AFA: The Defense Innovation Unit experimental (DIUx) is working with airmen and DOD civilian software coders to rapidly change the planning and conduct of air operations, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of Air Forces Central Command, told reporters here Tuesday. Over the past few months, Harrigian said, DIUx has helped develop new software used by the Combined […]
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Cybersecurity skills don’t come from a manual, but from practical hands-on training
Cybersecurity skills must evolve in near-real time as Zero Day threats continue and AI provides new challenges.
Hyten Outlines STRATCOM Overhaul; Nukes Sooner For F-35?
OMAHA: Strategic Command chief Gen. John Hyten today confirmed, more than two months after news first broke of a shift, that he’s ordered a series of sweeping changes at STRATCOM. Basically, he got rid of the Joint Functional Component Commands for space, global strike, cyber, integrated missile defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and whittled them […]
Navy Must Boost Carrier Air Wings’ Range, Size & Lethality
Paris Air Show attendees take note. The Navy needs more new strike fighters to cope with falling readiness rates. Will they be Super Hornets, F-35s or Block III Super Hornets? What mix does the US Navy need as it grapples with boosting the size of the fleet to 355 ships? And what about the MQ-25 […]
Long-Range Strike: ‘More Potent,’ More Survivable & Cheaper
On January 19, the Air Force struck Libya to halt terrorist activity using B-2 stealth bombers. This was not the first strike against Libya. A mix of U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy fighters conducted strikes 30 years ago against Libya in response to terrorist acts in Europe. A comparison of the two raids illustrates the […]
Boeing Wins $2.8B For KC-46 Tanker Low Rate Production
Believe it or not, Boeing really has made progress on the KC-46 tanker, after incurring at least $1.3 billion in cost overruns. Today, it got the only kind of proof that really matters to a corporation: they got the government’s promise of $2.8 billion for doing their job. The contract award of $2.5 billion is […]
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How Big Will Boeing’s KC-46 Penalty Be?
WASHINGTON: Boeing blew one of the most important milestones for the KC-46 airborne tanker program last week. The question is, will Boeing be penalized and, if so, how big will the penalty be? The answer, at this point, is it ain’t clear. “The KC-46 contract does not contain pre-defined penalties for missing schedule deadlines,” Air […]
Another Boeing Tanker Delay; How Long, Oh Lord?
WASHINGTON: When Boeing really, truly and finally won the airborne tanker competition by underbidding what was then EADS North America (now Airbus) by at least 10 percent, the chairman of the losing company, Ralph Crosby, said he believed it important that Boeing be watched closely to make sure they delivered at that price and on […]
RAND Finds Little Hope Fixed Price Deals Control Costs
The Program Executive Officer for the KC-46, Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, made a rare public appearance today at the Air Force Association to discuss his program, which has been hammered by schedule programs and cost growth. Fortunately, none of this costs the taxpayer a dime because it’s a fixed price contract. But the problems have cost Boeing at […]
Long Troubled Tanker Program May Be Turning Corner; Costs Down Half Billion Dollars
PENTAGON: One of the most screwed up programs in Pentagon history, the airborne tanker, may have turned a corner, with the KC-46 program cutting more than half-a-billion dollars from its projected costs, with $386.9 million of those savings coming in fiscal 2015. Some of these details will doubtless be discussed at the Wednesday afternoon House Armed […]