According to Reuters news service, the Air Force’s forecast for a new contract with Boeing for two-year’s worth of launches is only delayed, not dead. USAF had expected to close the deal in late spring, but it now looks like it will be sometime this summer. Reuters also finds that approval for the joining of Boeing and Lockheed Martin for a United Launch Alliance is still in the hands of the Federal Trade Commission.
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.