And The $40 Billion Air Tanker Contract Goes To…
We may know tomorrow…
This from Wired:
The Pentagon tomorrow is expected to announce a winner of a contract — potentially worth up to $40 billion - to replace the Air Force’s fleet of aging ancient tankers. Just to recap for those of you too busy reading about lasers and fighters to care about tankers: after 9/11, congressional appropriators snuck in some legislation that would have allowed the Air Force to lease 100 aerial refueling tankers from Boeing. An investigation spearheaded by Senator John McCain eventually derailed the deal. Umpteen hearings and two jailed defense execs later, the tankers were put up for competition, pitting Boeing and its 767 against Northrop Grumman, which is offering the Airbus 330.
Here’s my take: It doesn’t matter how many numbers you crunch, in the end, the Air Force needs tankers and I just don’t believe Congress would fund a tanker program based on European aircraft (even though Airbus problems to build them in Alabama). And the Air Force knows that. Is that wrong? Well, it’s still a heck of a lot better than the original plan to lease 100 aircraft. That said, the Air Force has made surpising decisions in the past, so who knows.
Oh, and the announcement may slip to next week.
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[...] told you yesterday that the decision may come down as early as [...]