Boeing's trash talk of Airbus makes them look petty; and as devoid of arguments as they are of flying KC-X tanker prototypes.
The real argument comes down to technical risk and execution capacity: Airbus have a number of flying A330 MRTTs with pods that work, boom that works and UAARSI (sp?) that works.
AFAIK it doesn't have a flying full-spec KC-X prototype, complete with cargo door and up-rated floor, but suffice to say it's light years ahead of where the Boeing mob are.
Which presumably means that Airbus have a pretty solid idea of the costs of production and can low-ball the bid, whereas Boeing have a huge amount of execution risk for an unbuilt concept* in a fixed-price contract. If that's the case, you'd have to pray hard if you go in low-ball and hope it's all alright on the night.
Personally, I think that it's wide open and that EADS may well win it - and before the usual cynicism kicks in, remember that KC-30 (as it was then) actually did win it last time out.
How much would the OzAF charge Airbus to let them deliver the bid to Andrews AFB in a pair of their jets? A little tanker-tanker refuelling fly-by
of the Pentagon has shades of 367-80's barrel roll....
S41
*If this is unfair to Boeing, I apologise profusely - but what % of the drawings have been released and how's the integration of the new flight deck and the wing-pods going?