Boeing formally entered the Air Force’s $30 million, self-awareness space situational awareness contest with the submittal of its proposal earlier this month, the company announced May 28. Lockheed Martin is already in the fray, having submitted its bid on May 1. “Boeing’s solution provides a low-risk approach that offers full mission capability,” said Craig Cooning, VP and GM for Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. The Air Force seeks a contractor to demonstrate a system of tactical sensors on a satellite that can detect threats to the host spacecraft. The service expects to issue the contract later this year. To show its commitment, Boeing said it has already validated the compatibility of its system with a host vehicle and with multiple threat-warning instruments, thereby confirming a high level of technology readiness.
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.