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Lockheed Martin illustration

Lockheed Martin won the Air Force’s multi-billion-dollar contest to build the next-generation of Global Positioning Satellites, the GPS Block III constellation, May 15, 2008. These satellites, featuring a new civil signal and a more robust military signal, will be built in increments, with the first launch of a GPS Block IIIA satellite anticipated in 2014. Here a notional image of the company’s GPS Block III satellite.

Verbatim

Fifth-Generation Apples and Oranges
“I think the notion of the F-22 as being common and similar to the F-35, we need to get rid of that. The F-35 is a very different airplane. It has similar characteristics but it’s a different airplane. ... It complements the F-22, but the F-22 is clearly an air superiority and air dominance weapon. The F-35 is a multinational, multirole, ground-to-air versatile airplane.”
—Michael Wynne, speaking to reporters on his final day in office as Air Force Secretary, June 20, 2008.

Verbatim

Call for Accountability
“The GAO’s decision in the tanker protest reveals serious errors in the Air Force’s handling of this critically important competition. We now need not only a new full, fair, and open competition in compliance with the GAO recommendations, but also a thorough review of—and accountability for—the process that produced such a flawed result.”
—Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, on GAO’s decision to uphold a protest by Boeing in the Air Force KC-X tanker competition, June 18, 2008.