“Ready Immediately”:

Aug. 1, 2007

The Northrop Grumman-EADS North America team vying to produce the Air Force’s next aerial refueling aircraft says it is “ready immediately” to begin production. The team has just completed final airframe assembly on the first developmental KC-30. The aircraft would be ready for military modification in late November, according to a Northrop release. Boeing has offered its 767 aircraft for the KC-X competition, for which USAF expects to award the contract in October.

Related Content

Yes, You Can Attend AFA’s Warfare Symposium–⁠DOD Misspoke

Jan. 24, 2022
The Defense Department now says military members can indeed attend conferences in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, correcting a statement made last week by Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby. The Air Force Association continues to plan a full, in-person 2022 AFA Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., March 2-4. “To…

Here’s What You Need to Know About Budget Delays and Defense Programs

Jan. 24, 2022
The fiscal year 2022 budget will enter its fifth month of continuing resolution in February, the product of a record-setting latest ever budget release by the Biden administration in May 2021. Meanwhile, the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget request is unlikely to meet a Feb.7 deadline, hampering the start of…

Dyess B-1Bs Fly 31-Hour Mission in Exercise With Japanese F-16s

Jan. 21, 2022
Three B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing flew over the Indo-Pacific alongside F-16s from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force as part of a joint large force exercise. The mission began and ended in the continental U.S. The bombers flew 31 hours and landed Jan. 11. 

Top Aces Tests Adversary F-16’s New Aggressor Suite

Jan. 21, 2022
Adversary services company Top Aces has begun testing an F-16 equipped with a suite of gear aimed at giving fifth-generation Air Force fighters a more realistic sparring partner. By the end of the year, the company expects to have 29 former Israeli F-16s in the U.S., most equipped with the…

More Eyes on GEO: Space Force Adds Two Space Surveillance Satellites

Jan. 21, 2022
Two satellites set forth to geosynchronous Earth orbit Jan. 21 to join a constellation of four others surveilling the high satellite belt. Collecting data for the National Space Defense Center and “other national users” will “enhance our ability to navigate freely and safely within the GEO belt” while helping to better…

DOD’s Research and Engineering Priorities Focus on Contested Areas

Jan. 20, 2022
The Pentagon’s head of research and engineering is prioritizing technologies that can penetrate and operate inside highly contested enemy territory. Top among them are artificial intelligence and autonomy. Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu said other priorities on the list include creating the technology and standards for…

Air Combat Command Designates Five ‘Lead Wings’

Jan. 20, 2022
Air Combat Command has designated five units to serve as “lead wings” as the Air Force looks to overhaul its force generation model and pivot to strategic competition with China and Russia. The five wings, scattered from Idaho to Georgia, will be designated to “rapidly generate combat power as a deployed…

Newest Air Force Software Factory Aims to Help AFRL, Attritable Aircraft Programs

Jan. 20, 2022
The Air Force stood up its first software factory, Kessel Run, in 2017 with the aim of coding just like the commercial tech industry. Five years later, the department has 17 different software factories, each focused on developing in-house products for different missions. The latest, Hangar 18, wants to help…