Brian Everstine is the Pentagon Editor for Aviation Week, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Aviation Week in August 2021, Brian covered the Pentagon for Air Force Magazine. Brian began covering defense aviation in 2011 as a reporter for Military Times. Over a decade as a defense journalist, he has reported from dozens of bases at home and abroad, including austere airstrips in Afghanistan, the cockpit of a B-52 over the South Pacific and the boom operator station of a KC-46. Before the military beat, Brian covered the Washington state legislature for the Associated Press.
The U.S. Air Force’s abridged plan to buy just six EC-37B Compass Call aircraft is not enough to meet the mission, and service officials say they are closely watching the availability of both Gulfstream G550s and their Rolls-Royce engines to see when more could be bought to fill the gap.
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward on determining the requirements and acquisition strategy for its possible KC-Y “bridge tanker,” as the service’s top leader says a competition is looking less likely.
