A newspaper investigation shows the Air Force gave Boeing five
months to examine and, in many cases, rewrite the Request For
Proposal on a fleet of refueling aircraft to replace the aging
KC-135s. Knight-Ridder Newspapers reports Boeing officials
eliminated 19 of the specific capabilities requested by the USAF.
There were only 26 in total.
That's not all. The newspaper chain reports Air Force procurement
officials then gave Airbus just 12 days to answer the bid before
awarding the contract to Boeing. Even so, Airbus met 20 of the 26
original conditions.
A senior Air Force official told lawmakers March 25 that the
service would not be interested in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter if
a technical glitch could not be overcome or if program funds were
cut off. The general's meeting came in response to
subcommittee chairman Rep. Curt Weldon’s question about
Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche’s testimony
March 24 before the Senate Committee on Appropriations subcommittee
on defense.
Where did they go? The Ukrainian defense minister says hundreds
of SAM missiles are missing from his country's arsenal and he has
no clue as to where those pesky things have gotten off to.
"We are looking for several hundred missiles," said Defense
Minister Yevhen Marchuk, in an interview published in the newspaper
Den. "They have already been decommissioned, but we cannot find
them."
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