Following through on a company pledge, EADS North America’s KC-X tanker team arrived Monday in Mobile, Ala., It is setting up operations there to be prepared to start work quickly if chosen to supply the Air Force’s new KC-X tanker. Mobile’s WALA news station 10 reported that state and local political leaders gathered at a rally in the city’s convention center to mark the occasion. “Today is the day we open the building, the shop, and the office where we will operate the program for the KC-45 tanker,” said Ralph Crosby, EADS NA chairman. The company has said it would build its KC-45 tankers at a new facility at Mobile’s Brookley Field if it wins the KC-X competition. EADS submitted its proposal July 8, one day prior to Boeing and US Aerospace turning in their respective bids. An Air Force decision is expected this fall.
The Next-Generation Air Dominance Fighter is Air Combat Command’s top priority, because without it, the Air Force can’t provide the control of the air the whole military depends on to operate, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said. He also named a replacement for the E-3 AWACS, new…