There’s $400 million in the Air Force’s 2010 budget request for a restart of the KC-X tanker program. Service officials said they anticipate a new competition and an award to be made by the middle of Fiscal 2010, but the number of aircraft and the methodology of the competition have yet to be decided. There’s $700 million in the budget request for the C-5 re-engining and avionics modification program, which also funds the C-130 avionics mod. No money is in the budget for additional C-17s beyond the 205 now on contract, although Congress is looking to add some in its supplemental deliberations. The Air Force put $91 million in its budget request to shut down the C-17 line. The service is also funding eight C-27 Joint Cargo Aircraft, although, as we reported earlier, it looks like the Air Force is going to be the sole operator of the program; Army money was deleted (see below).
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.