The Air Force has awarded a contract worth up to $2 billion to Boeing to serve as the product integrator for work on the service’s fleet of four E-4B National Airborne Operations Center aircraft. Boeing has provided logistics support, engineering services, and technical order support for the E-4B, which is a modified Boeing 747, for 25 years, say company officials. Boeing will work with L3 Communications, Rockwell Collins, and Greenpoint Technology to bring multiple contracts under a “single contracting vehicle” to reduce cost.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…