Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss.), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R- La.), and Gov. Bob Riley (R-Ala.) on Monday announced the launch of The Aerospace Alliance, a private-public partnership of business leaders, economic development professionals, and government officials to establish the Gulf Coast and surrounding region as a world-class aerospace, space, and aviation corridor. They said in a joint release their first objective is to ensure that the Air Force’s new KC-X tanker is built in their region. If Northrop Grumman should prevail in the newly relaunched KC-X tanker contest against Boeing, it would assemble its aircraft in Mobile, Ala., a boon for that state and the region. In a separate release, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) and Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) announced that Northwest Florida was also a member of this new alliance. (See also Tuesday’s Alliance release.)
Two U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress bombers flew with Japanese fighters over the Sea of Japan after a string of Chinese provocations toward Japan—including a joint bomber patrol with Russia—in response to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comments about Taiwan.
