Get Set for the Tanker Wars

Sept. 15, 2005

Boeing is hot to unveil its plan for a new tanker replacement aircraft, particularly since Northrop Grumman has announced its offering—an Airbus A330 knockoff. (DR, 09/08/05) Speaking at the AFA conference Tuesday, Boeing’s George Muellner said the Global Tanker Team currently at work on aerial tankers for Italy and Japan has agreed to partner to develop a new tanker. The GTT comprises Boeing, Smiths Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Vought Aircraft, Aeronavali (Italy), Honewell, GE, and Pratt & Whitney. The proposed aircraft? Boeing’s KC-767, which Muellner says completed its initial flight testing with the Italian Air Force.

Related Content

Air Force Using Generative AI to Help Modernize Legacy Software

April 11, 2025
Military software developers are using generative AI-powered coding assistants to help them modernize decades-old legacy codebases, officials said this week. And the Department of the Air Force Bot Operations Team (DAFBOT), part of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, says it is leading the way.

DOD Plans Quicker, More Comprehensive Cybersecurity Standards for Contractors 

April 10, 2025
Defense IT contractors who can demonstrate a secure supply chain and secure coding practices will soon be able to get fast track approval to have their products operate on DoD networks, radically shortening a process that often takes months or years at present, Pentagon Chief Software Officer Rob Vietmeyer said…

Golden Dome Is New. But Plenty of Next-Gen Missile Warning Is in the Works Already

April 10, 2025
The Pentagon’s plan to implement President Donald Trump’s “Golden Dome” missile defense system is still in the works and nothing final has been decided, but at the Space Symposium here, military and industry officials alike touted partnerships and work already done that will feed into the initiative. 

USSF Brings Acquisition Reforms to New Nuclear Command and Control Program

April 9, 2025
Some of the Space Force’s biggest acquisition reforms have made their way into the service’s new nuclear command, control, and communications satellite program, the officer in charge of the effort said April 8. Evolved Strategic SATCOM is one of the biggest pieces of the Space Force budget, set to replace…

Military AI Will Mean Overhauling Test as Well as Tactics: DOD’s First AI Chief

April 9, 2025
To employ autonomous weapons systems like pilotless aircraft and other artificial intelligence-powered innovations, the U.S. military will have to overhaul not just its strategy and tactics in every domain, but also the way it tests its technology, according to the Defense Department’s first ever AI chief.