The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to convene Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. East Coast time to receive testimony on the results of the Defense Department’s investigation “into the release of proprietary data in the KC-X competition,” according to a notice posted at the committee’s website. As of late Sunday, the committee had not released the list of witnesses. SASC Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in December pledged that the committee would invesitgate this issue and hold at least one hearing on it by Feb. 1. The Air Force has maintained that the accidental data disclosure to would-be KC-X tanker suppliers Boeing and EADS North America last November was an unfortunate error that has not impacted the integrity of the source-selection process. USAF Secretary Michael Donley said earlier this month that the hearing’s timing would dicate how much Air Force officials would be able to discuss the issue. That’s because federal acquisition regulations limit what officials can say during an ongoing source selection.
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.