Boeing will no longer pursue the $3 billion contract to provide operations and maintenance support at the Air Force’s space launch ranges on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, reported the Washington Business Journal. It was in the company’s best interest to “focus resources in other areas,” said Boeing spokeswoman Ellen Buhr, according to the July 12 WBJ report. The decision comes roughly a year after Boeing announced its intent to pursue the launch test range system integrated support contract, with which the service aims to consolidate its three current contracts for range support services into one. “It’s never an easy decision to have to refocus, especially in a competition like this, where it would have been our entry into the market,” Alma Dayawon, spokeswoman for Boeing’s training systems and services, told the Daily Report July 13. Still pursuing the LISC contract are reportedly Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon, among others.
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.