Defense Procurement News

Northrop Grumman and EADS have this up on their site. It shows the state-by-state impact of the program job wise. So you might want to look up your state.

Seattle PI on Union Reaction.

Seattle Times on Washington’s Congressional delegation reaction. Notice even the Democrats are unhappy - all DoD dollars are local.

Reuters on general Congressional reactions - Alabama happy.

California Fox station says the larger capacity of the KC-30 was key.

Spokane just wants new tankers to replace their KC-135 aircraft.

Boeing, which has been supplying refueling tankers for nearly 50 years, had been expected to win the deal.

Here are some links that are commenting on the win by Northrop Grumman and EADS.

http://www.aero-news.net/ - KC-45A Wins Deal Over Boeing’s KC-767 Note: I think no matter what aircraft was chosen it would be called the KC-45A.

Wichita, KS News on MSNBC - Key phrase from Sen Roberts of KS: “”I am deeply troubled by the Air Force’s decision to award the KC-X tanker to a French company that has never built a tanker in its history. We should have an American tanker built by an American company with American workers. I can not believe we would create French jobs in place of Kansas jobs.”

Seattle Post-Intelligencer - “Tanker award caps tumultuous period” - Good round up of the history of the KC-X program.

Leeham Company LLC Analysis by Scott Hamilton - “Boeing will be out of the tanker business for the next 20-40 years if it loses the KC-45A
award, its spokesman predicted, which helps explain why Boeing is fighting so hard to win the competition.”

Oh yeah, how they feel at Northrop Grummand and EADS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX5oqEfAydg

Improvised explosive devices are now being hailed as the wonder weapon that may end the tank's supremacy on the battlefield.

The Air Force announced today that the Northrop Grumman and EADS team won the KC-X contract. News story is here. This is a huge decision and marks a major change in US defense policy.   Read the rest of this entry »

Contracts valued at $5 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in India Tuesday amid rumors that he is to offer the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk as a sweetener if New Delhi buys 65 Boeing Super Hornet fighters.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in India Tuesday amid rumors that he is to offer the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk as a sweetener if New Delhi buys 65 Boeing Super Hornet fighters.

Scope and complexity of agencies have grown enormously since 9/11.

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb announced the selectio...

This is a shoe that has been waiting to drop for a little while now, as the United States, EU, UN et. al. continue to reach for military and security contractors to move supplies, handle logistics, provide training for local forces, and even act as armed guards. Enter the CONUS(CONtinental ...

Partnership between Defense and General Services Administration aims to save money, time.

Bill backing development of new technology for border patrol and maritime security draws rare bipartisan support.

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 29, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial system (UAS), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), cele...

MOSCOW, February 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's MiG aircraft manufacturer transferred on Friday 12 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters, modernized in line with NATO ...

The Dutch Parlement has announced it intends to participate in the Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) phase of the F-35 Lightning II prog...

Service relies heavily on supplemental appropriations to pay for recruiting and retention needs.

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Air Force's top two leaders testified before the House Armed Services Committee about the service's budget request for fiscal...

MOSCOW, February 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Tu-95 Bear strategic bombers have successfully conducted a 10-hour routine patrol flight over the Atlantic...

Talk about not getting it. When it comes to issues of accountability, oversight and transparency in the private military and security industry -- once you get past the casually uninformed rhetoric of pundits and bloggers with too little knowledge -- there is actually a fair degree of consensus that, yes, there should actually be such a thing: not just in words, but deeds as well.

Talk about not getting it. When it comes to issues of accountability, oversight and transparency in the private military and security industry -- once you get past the casually uninformed rhetoric of pundits and bloggers with too little knowledge -- there is actually a fair degree of consensus that, yes, there should actually be such a thing: not just in words, but deeds as well.

Some high-resolution images of China's Type 094 SSBN have shed new light on this mysterious strategic missile nuclear-powered submarine of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Satellite photos released by Google Earth reveal two of these new submarines at the Huludao Shipyard in northeast China.

Some high-resolution images of China's Type 094 SSBN have shed new light on this mysterious strategic missile nuclear-powered submarine of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Satellite photos released by Google Earth reveal two of these new submarines at the Huludao Shipyard in northeast China.

The Australian Defence Minister, Mr. Fitzgibbon, now has decided that the plan to buy F/A-18 and then JSF for the nation is a bad idea. Just a few days ago, here, he was applauding the F/A-18. He now states that the US aircraft were not necessarily the way to go to buy modern fighter aircraft. The options, though, were limited. Australia could have bought Russian, or the Eurofighter, or SAAB Viggens, I guess? But I don’t know if the cost would have been comparable. He continues to say that the country really wants F-22 aircraft, which is currently not allowable under US law, even though the US DoD have expressed some support for the idea.