Worst-Case Scenario

Hoping for the best but planning for the worst, Air Force officials are preparing to award L-3 Communications a contract to provide the service with crash data extraction units for the Joint Strike Fighter, which has never before suffered that kind of accident. The system would allow the Air Force to extract data "down to at least the circuit board level" in case of an F-35 crash, according to an Aug. 9 Federal Business Opportunities posting. That contract, managed by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, should be awarded in September.