In a 
ceremony in St. Louis, Boeing on Monday unveiled its hydrogen-powered Phantom Eye remotely piloted aircraft, which is designed to remain aloft at 65,000 feet for up to four days. “Phantom Eye is the first of its kind and could open up a whole new market in collecting data and communications,” said Darryl Davis, Boeing Phantom Works president. Later this summer, the company will ship Phantom Eye to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., to begin ground and taxi tests in preparation for its first flight in early 2011. That debut flight is expected to last between four and eight hours, said company officials. Phantom Eye has a 150-foot wingspan and is built to cruise at about 150 knots and carry a payload up to 450 pounds. Boeing’s industry team includes Ford Motor Company and Aurora Flight Sciences. (Boeing release)
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.