It’s official. The Defense Department will announce the winner of the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contract on Thursday afternoon at 5:10 p.m. East Coast time. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will join Deputy Defense Secretary Bill Lynn and Pentagon acquisition executive Ash Carter in the Pentagon briefing room to crown either Boeing’s 767-based NewGen Tanker or EADS North America’s A330-based tanker model as the winner. Stay tuned for more coverage.
Collaborative Combat Aircraft designs from Anduril and General Atomics passed their critical design reviews early in November, clearing the way for detailed production efforts to get underway, the Air Force said. How future versions will be upgraded is still under discussion.