U.S. Could Reopen Bidding For Air Force Tankers

U.S. Air Force Secretary James Roche said Wednesday he was prepared to let Airbus bid again on supplying aerial refueling tankers if a contentious plan to lease and buy an initial 100 aircraft from Boeing Co. was tossed out by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. A fresh round hinges on whether Rumsfeld uses an existing congressional mandate to lease up to 20 modified Boeing 767s and buy up to 80 more in a deal valued at more than $20 billion, Roche told reporters at a breakfast session. The Pentagon has put tanker-related negotiations with Boeing on hold pending four investigations due to wind up in May, including whether there was improper contact between the Air Force and the Chicago-based aerospace company during initial talks.

'America's Huey' Visits America's Newest Huey

"America's Huey" spent a little time with its offspring, America's newest Huey, March 13, during a stop Patuxent River (MD) on its "Final Journey Home" to the Smithsonian Institution. The nearly 40-year old Bell UH-1H Iroquois, more popularly known as America's Huey, is slated to become the central part of the Vietnam War section of the National Museum of American History's new exhibit, "The Price of Freedom," which opens on Veterans Day. Stopping by Pax River's Rotary Wing Test Squadron gave the elder Huey an opportunity to share ramp space with the UH-1Y, currently nearing the end of its developmental flight testing and soon to hit the Fleet with the Marine Corps. To complete the historic and rare occasion, members of the H-1 Int