The ranking member on the House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee said today he thinks the service should restructure or recompete its contract with Boeing for the KC-46 tanker. During a subcommittee hearing, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) questioned Air Force officials on Boeing's KC-46 fixed-price contract structure and its connection to the tanker's high-level deficiencies, which include problems with the boom and remote visual system and have delayed the program's operational availability until 2024. "I think that the root cause of this increasingly troubled aircraft is a bad contract, and I further believe that Boeing has little incentive to correct these debilitating deficiencies," Wittman said in his opening statement. "I think one of two options needs to be pursued. The Air Force could either change the contract incentive structure and actively manage the KC-46 development; or, seek a new path and pursue a non-developmental recompete of the tanker effort."
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