The Air Force is "really, really close" to awarding a contract for the Long-Range Strike Bomber, according to the service's top acquisition executive. "The words I chose were deliberate," William LaPlante told reporters during an Oct. 21 Pentagon briefing he conducted with his military deputy, Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch. "I'm not saying months away, I'm not saying soon. . . . The message here is we're very close." In order to ease budget planning, LaPlante said the service had targeted...
