The Air Force is “microscopically” watching Boeing to make sure the company delivers what it promises with the KC-46A tanker contract, Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told lawmakers Thursday. “The level of approval for engineering change orders is not going to be at the program-office level,” Schwartz told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He added, “We haven’t decided where it will be yet. It might be at [the USAF leadership] level, but the bottom line is we intend to maintain discipline on this . . . like you would expect.” The Air Force late last month awarded Boeing the contract to supply up to 179 767-based KC-46A tankers to replace the service’s oldest KC-135s. Boeing beat out EADS North America’s A330-based KC-45 model. EADS opted not to protest the award, but company officials said they will be standing by to step in if Boeing can’t deliver.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…