The Air Force will reduce its next buy of aerial tankers and push on toward development of a new, stealthy system that will be operational in the 2030s-2040, service acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said. He told reporters at the AFA Warfare Symposium that the Air ...
The defense contractors vying for the Air Force’s “bridge tanker” program updated the status of their aerial refuelers, citing new capabilities aimed at automating the refueling process. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has repeatedly said the likelihood of a competition for the service’s “bridge tanker” ...
The Air Force probably won’t pursue some exotic approach for the KC-Y and KC-Z tranches of the service's aerial refueling tanker modernization plan, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said. The KC-46, “tweaked” with upgrades, can likely do the job for KC-Y, he ...
The next phase of the Air Force’s long-term tanker recapitalization program may have some Lockheed Martin Skunk Works flavor, and the advanced development unit is looking ahead to the stealthy KC-Z competition and a potential lighter-than-air transport, Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager Jeff ...