Tanker, F-35 and Korea Transfix USAF

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 11/27/2010 | David A. Fulghum

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Could bad luck be coming in threes for the U.S. Air Force? This month, officials were sacked from the tanker-replacement program, concern grew about another slip in the F-35’s initial operating date, and South Korea is enduring the worst attack by North Korea in more than 50 years.

So far, two heads have rolled in the tanker program after two documents involved in the competition were sent to the wrong company. The unidentified employees—who were members of the program office, but not the program manager—have been replaced.

An investigation has ensured that the competition is still fair and that no “proposed pricing data” were involved, says the Air Force’s chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz. Each single-sheet report involved an efficiency assessment of either the Boeing or EADS candidate aircraft. The study was conducted to determine how many of each tanker were required to fulfill a series of air-refueling scenarios.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

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