The Air Force has awarded a $3.8 billion contract to perform contractor logistics services for its KC-10 tankers to Northrop Grumman vice Boeing, which produced the KC-10s and has been performing the workload. Boeing plans to review its options and could protest the award, reports New Mexico Business Weekly. In a statement, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) called the contract, which would run nine years and provide 150 to 300 jobs to her state, a “major boon” for the Lake Charles area and was “a show of confidence in the skilled workers of southwest Louisiana.” The contract covers USAF’s 59 KC-10s and two Dutch KDC-10s. In a company statement, Northrop’s technical services sector president James Cameron said, “Our clear focus now is to conduct a flawless phase-in that will facilitate the superior program performance that both the US Air Force and Northrop Grumman demand.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III visited Tbilisi, Georgia on Oct. 18 ahead of the NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels Oct. 21-22, and assured the aspiring NATO member that the U.S. is at its side. During the visit, Austin signed a defense memorandum to enhance deterrence amid continued Russian hybrid…