AvWeek's Amy Butler notes in her blog that Northrop Grumman officials have informed lawmakers that they predict a 96-98% chance of not bidding for the U.S. Air Force's KC-X taker program.   The Lexington Institute's Loren Thompson agrees, noting: "I think that Northrop Grumman has made the decision to not bid because it can't win.  From its point of view, this solicitation is a gift to Boeing by the Obama Administration."  The company had hedged on when it will take a decision, but it has ten days (now 7) to protest the RFP itself.

The Air Force has released the latest iteration of the KC-X Request for Proposals (RFP) and the general take is that it changes little from the draft RFP rejected by Northrop Grumman as favoring Boeing.  While the company will take some time for a measured response, the best guess around town is that it will be difficult for the company to find what it requested in the details of the newest solicitation.

-- Aviation Week has a copy of the DoD's PowerPoint Briefing Charts here.

-- The Seattle PI's blog has a summary of industry and political reaction here. 

-- The KC-X RFP itself is to soon be available here.

Faced with an unending line of contractors and lobbyists pleading their cases with Members for Congressional plus-ups and citing strident yet unverified Service support for their pet projects, Defense Committee Members years ago sought a way to make sense of the press and to formalize their independent dialog with the military.  The notion: ask the Service Chiefs to outline their "unfunded priorities" -- projects and systems that are needed but didn't make the final budget cuts.  With these inputs in hand, the Congress could then make informed decisions -- as is their right and responsibility per the Constitution -- about what funding might responsibly be added to the budget. 

The annual Military Service lists of "unfunded priorities" are now out and there's good news: the Services have are getting about everything they need and want in the just-submitted FY11 defense budget request.  Okay, probably not.  This year's wish lists total $1.8 billion, down from $3.4 billion last year, when Dr. Gates decided to chaperone the process, and that number is down from over $30 billion the year prior.  To complain about Congressional earmarks that don't serve the warfighter is one thing -- to seek to deny the Congress the ability to openly consult the warfighter is quite another.