The surprise withdrawal of the aerospace giant could give Boeing a leg up as the Air Force moves toward a contract award for a new fleet of refuelers, analysts told Breaking Defense.
"We just kind of need to get their no-kidding ground truth of, ‘this is what we think we can deliver and when we think we can deliver it,'" Andrew Hunter, the service's acquisition chief, said in a Sept. 5 interview at the Pentagon.
“I think what you're hearing from individuals like Hon. Hunter and Hon. Kendall is a recognition that the requirements that went into the JCIDS process are not revolutionary," said Scott Boyd, Air Force deputy program manager for mobility aircraft.
Lockheed's selection of GE Aerospace's CF6 engines comes as the Air Force weighs sole-sourcing a next round of tankers to Boeing or opening up a competition.
Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter indicated he was leaning toward buying 75 more KC-46A tankers as a bridge to an accelerated next-gen program.