Pentagon officials plan to brief Congress today on the new KC-X tanker replacement draft request for proposals and release the draft RFP by Friday, reports Bloomberg News (via Seattle Times). And a Reuters news service report quoting Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) confirms that same timing. The troubled acquisition program is back in the Air Force’s hands, per the announcement last week by Defense Secretary Robert Gates at AFA’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C. Even before getting out of the starting gate, KC-X has problems, since Tiahrt and other Boeing proponents want the Administration to consider the recent World Trade Organization preliminary ruling, while Northrop Grumman-EADS proponents are equally adamant it should have no bearing on the renewed tanker contest. Stay tuned.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.