Originally Posted by
ORAC
AW&ST - Jan 24th: In response, the two companies are studying a variant of the MRTT, possibly to be supplied as part of a commercial “fee-for-service” deal. This time, the MRTT should be well-suited, says Enders. Clearly still rankled by the outcome of the KC-X, he says, “I still don’t understand why the most powerful Air Force of the world would not fly the best available tanker aircraft on the market.”......
The operative phrase there is:
"...the two companies are studying a variant of the MRTT, possibly to be supplied as part of a commercial “fee-for-service” deal." "Fee for service". You know that the service bought by USAF is going to go to the bidder with the lowest fee. Indeed USN has been doing this for nearly two decades and they've always bought the cheapest service. That means that Lockheed/Airbus will be competing with existing commercial tanker operators like Omega who operate converted tankers. Good luck beating those guys on price. Not even Boeing could beat them on price.
And about that Lockheed/Airbus tanker partnership? How solid is it really? Consider that Lockheed is also contemplating going it alone. Larry Gallogly, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' business development director of USAF mobility programmes said: "A lot of people don't realise that [the KC-130] is fully capable of refuelling everything from slow-moving helicopters up through fighter aircraft. We have an extensive level of experience in that regard." So Airbus while partnered with Lockheed may also need to compete with Lockheed. Won't that be fun?
And finally, what's to prevent Boeing from teaming with Omega to provide tanking services? Boeing would mod the used commercial aircraft into tankers and Omega would operate them. Unlike Airbus and Lockheed, Boeing has experience converting used commercial aircraft into tankers and unlike Airbus and Lockheed, Omega has experience (over 2 decades worth) operating commercial tankers to support military users. And unlike Airbus and Boeing, Boeing has an entire division (Boeing Global Support) specifically dedicated to aircraft mods and a truly massive mod facility in San Antonio. Guess where those ex-Russian 747-8I airframes are going to get turned into VC-25Bs?
Forgive my pessimism, but I don't see the slightest hope of brand new A330MRTTs being able to compete on price with used commercial aircraft converted to tankers. None.