Air Force photo by SSgt. Samuel Rogers
The Government Accountability Office recommended on June 18, 2008, that the Air Force accept revised bids from Boeing and Northrop Grumman in its KC-X tanker recapitalization contest. GAO’s ruling upheld the protest that Boeing field in March 2008 after USAF awarded Northrop Grumman the multi-billion-dollar KC-X contract to build up to 179 new tankers to replace the service’s aging KC-135s. Here, a KC-135 refuels an F-15 during a combat air patrol mission over Washington, D.C., Oct 7, 2007.