Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R- La.), and Gov. Bob Riley (R-Ala.) on Monday announced the launch of The Aerospace Alliance, a private-public partnership of business leaders, economic development professionals, and government officials to establish the Gulf Coast and surrounding region as a world-class aerospace, space, and aviation corridor. They said in a joint release their first objective is to ensure that the Air Force’s new KC-X tanker is built in their region. If Northrop Grumman should prevail in the newly relaunched KC-X tanker contest against Boeing, it would assemble its aircraft in Mobile, Ala., a boon for that state and the region. In a separate release, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) and Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) announced that Northwest Florida was also a member of this new alliance. (See also Tuesday’s Alliance release.)
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.