Boeing is “very happy” in its partnership with Lockheed Martin to develop technologies and eventually a proposal for the next generation bomber, and the arrangement will stay intact for now, Boeing Military Aircraft President Chris Chadwick told reporters Wednesday. The team comprises the only two fighter primes left in the US, and “we complement each other” very well, he said. The partnership was announced last year on the assumption that money would be in the Fiscal 2010 budget to start designing the bomber. The team is awaiting guidance out of the Quadrennial Defense Review about new timing and direction for the bomber project and will stay together at least until those announcements are made. Chadwick declined to speculate whether the two would stay married if the bomber turns into a large unmanned platform; both companies have a goal of becoming a key prime in future unmanned systems.
When acting Air Force Secretary Gary A. Ashworth rescinded service-wide “Family Days” last week citing the need to build readiness, he left it up to commanders, directors, and supervisors to decide if they would still permit extra days off. Here’s how Air Force major commands are taking that guidance.