Boeing is waiting on the Pentagon to issue the requirements for the forthcoming KC-X tanker competition, so the company still doesn’t know yet whether it will offer an aerial refueler based on its 767 or its larger 777 commercial aircraft. But what is already clear is that the company is committed to taking a lower risk approach this time around, Rick LeMaster, Boeing’s KC-X program manager, told reporters today at AFA’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C. This means there will be no so-called “Franken-tanker” like Boeing offered in the last KC-X go-around, when it proposed a variant of the of the 767 with new wings and other new major components added to the baseline 767 design. Lemaster said this is “not the strategy” that the company will pursue. Continue
Air Force Changes Rules for Pregnant Aircrew—Again
April 3, 2025
The Air Force is changing its policy for pregnant aircrew, generally reverting to rules set in 2019 that barred female aviators from flying during the first trimester—or from flying in aircraft with ejection seats at all—due to potential risks to the pilot and her unborn fetus.