US Aerospace Inc. may have taken defense insiders by surprise on July 9 when it submitted a $30 billion bid for the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contract, but company officials say they are very much a real competitor. The company’s proposed AN-112-KC tanker, based on an airframe from Ukrainian state-owned aerospace giant Antonov, is specifically designed to meet KC-X requirements, Charles Arnold, senior advisor to US Aerospace’s board of directors, told the Daily Report in an interview Tuesday. Its wings stretch 166 feet and more closely resemble the slicked-back style of a bomber than a typical passenger carrier, he said. The unique design is intended to provide more stability to wing-mounted, hose-and-drogue refueling operations, he noted. The AN-112 would be capable of refueling the fastest US fighters as well as significantly slower helicopters, according to Arnold. Plus, it also can refuel two aircraft at once using its centerline boom and one of the wing-mounted, hose-and-drogue systems, he said. Continue
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.