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KC-X Announced Today

2:05 PM, Feb 29, 2008 • By JOHN NOONAN
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There's a great story about General George C. Marshall, who--while posturing the nation for war--took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to hear out some gentleman from the automotive industry. After listening to them for about 5 minutes, Marshall nodded and said "Ok, do it."

And so the Army Jeep was born.

Different times, eh?

The Air Force's often-delayed announcement of which defense contractor will be awarded a multibillion-dollar contract to provide new aerial refueling tankers has been postponed until 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 29, a defense industry analyst said.

I've got my money on Boeing. But with a bureaucracy as impenetrable as the Air Force, it's anyone's guess. Updates after the announcement.

(For more on the competition, check out this piece comparing the two aircraft -- ed.)

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