Plane Pr0n and No Protest

The Air Force Association's Daily Report newsletter recently introduced a new feature called "Air Frame" which showcases the work of USAF photographers (and others, I presume).  Here's another offering in the occasional series:

Air Frame: Two F-15E Strike Eagles sit on the flight line at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Dec. 6, 2010. (Air Force photo by SrA. Debbie Lockhart) (click for larger)

―:☺:―

In other USAF news... this is a good thing:

No Tanker Protest: EADS North America has announced that it won't protest the Air Force's award of the KC-X tanker contract to Boeing. The Air Force ran an "extremely professional" and "scrupulous" competition, Ralph Crosby, EADS North America chairman, told reporters during a press conference March 4 in Washington, D.C., to discuss the company's decision. USAF officials did "everything they said they would" during the source-selection process," leaving "nothing to hang a protest on," he said. "The Air Force looks forward to the long-awaited recapitalization of its air refueling fleet," service spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said in a statement released following the company's announcement. Boeing's tanker spokesman Bill Barksdale, in a statement issued after EADS' event, said: "We understand the importance of this effort to our customer and the country and stand ready, along with our nationwide team of suppliers, to go to work on the new KC-46A program." Continue to Cleared for Takeoff. (See also our initial coverage)

I'm surprised EADS isn't filing a protest, given the long and tortuous ten-year history of the tanker war.  I'm SO very glad they aren't gonna go down that road.

Long-time readers know I obtain a huge amount of blog-fodder  from the AFA's Daily Report.  If you find this sorta stuff interesting there's a link to the Daily Report in my sidebar... clicking that link takes you directly to the current report (published Monday-Friday) and an extensive archive of past reports.  It's good stuff for us ol' blue-suiters and aviation folks in general.