Although commercial and civil aviation is “on the rebound,” the outlook for defense aerospace is cloudy, according to Aerospace Industries Association president and CEO Marion Blakey. Addressing AFA’s Air and Space Conference last week, Blakey said since so much of the sector depends on military contracts, “a downturn in defense could pull down the whole industry.” She added that, in the budget deliberations to come, “the stakes are very high” and nothing less than US leadership in aerospace is on the table. Blakey noted that the aerospace sector continues to offer the nation the highest trade surplus of any industry, at $56 billion last year, and is therefore a principal engine of the economy.
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.