When the
new Administration takes up the terminated KC-X tanker competition, Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Arthur Lichte would like to pick things up where they left off. Speaking with reporters after his Wednesday speech at AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington, Lichte said simply addressing those issues where the Government Accountability Office upheld Boeing’s protest would “give us the shortest review” and speed up the process of getting the aircraft, now years overdue. He said, “If possible, we’d like to do that.” He continued: “Certainly, we will have things prepared; we have working groups established to make sure we can answer those areas that were upheld in the protest. But at the same time, if somebody says, I want you to go back and review all the requirements again, we’ll be prepared to do that.” He added, though, “Quite frankly, as the warfighter who laid out the requirements, they haven’t changed. The [KC-135] isn’t getting any younger.”
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…