It is possible that the Air Force may tip its hand early on the tanker competition simply by identifying in next month’s final request for proposals just how much cargo it wants the replacement aerial refueler to carry. At least that’s the usually knowledgeable opinion of Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. In a new issue brief, Thompson says, “The wild card is the cargo-carrying capacity, because if the
request for proposals sets a modest goal, that will tend to favor the [Boeing] 767, and if it sets an ambitious goal that will tend to favor the [Northrop Grumman-EADS] A330.” USAF expects in July 2007 to make a decision on which contractor would provide the first 179 aircraft of a program that could, in the end, run to 500 or so tankers.
B-21 Temporary Shelters Could Also Shelter B-2s
March 5, 2021
The Air Force's experimental runway shelter for the new B-21 bomber is large enough to cover it or the B-2, and therefore reveals no information about the dimensions of the new aircraft. Two such shelters will be evaluated, but the maker of the second version hasn't been chosen, yet.