Le Bourget, France —Air Force acquisition executive David Van Buren, addressing an international audience here Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, said “efficiencies will not be enough” in reaching spending levels demanded in future US defense budgets. “We will have to make strategic choices” about missions and capabilities to retain, Van Buren said. The Pentagon’s comprehensive review of choices, he said, is to be complete in time to prepare the next defense budget (Fiscal 2013), which starts working up this summer. Van Buren said even the targets may change, and spending levels could go lower still. With a new Defense Secretary and Joint Chiefs Chairman coming in, “we’re in a period of transition,” and spending discussions may go in a new direction, he acknowledged.
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.