The Air Force plans to unveil its final request for proposals in the tanker replacement program this week, according to a statement issued late Friday. The service could still make its notional January deadline. Whether the RFP will alleviate Northrop Grumman’s concerns is unclear, although the service says the RFP will include “specific factors for assessing the capability contribution of each offeror, i.e. Boeing and the Northrop-EADS team. As a final word, the statement says the Air Force “is committed to a full and open competition.”
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.