Gen. Norton Schwartz is urging a quick march toward a new tanker (DR 12/08/05), yet Boeing—probably the prime contender—is sounding decidedly pessimistic about how quickly the process will move. Jim Albaugh, a top Boeing official, has no doubt that his company will be in the running—no matter the aircraft requirements—he just doesn’t see the program producing a KC-135 replacement for at least 10 years. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Albaugh told a crowd of Wall Street analysts Thursday, “If and when they [Pentagon] define their requirements, we’ll be there with a small airplane, a medium-size airplane, or a large airplane.” He continued, “At the rate we’re [Pentagon working with defense industry] going, we’re not going to have a new tanker delivered until 2015 or 2016.” Albaugh wasn’t done. He said that he’s “a little skeptical” there will be a tanker program. Who can blame him
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.