I wonder whether, assuming all other things being equal, this was compensation to GE for the F-35 second engine cancellation.
The Pentagon said Boeing was about 1% cheaper than EADS, so if compared purely on capability, I cannot see how the KC-767 is a better solution than the KC-45...
One must also question whether Boeing has sufficient engineering resources to bring the KC-767, 787-9, 787-10, updated 777, AND 737 replacement all on line in time in the next decade. It couldn't do the 787-8, 787-3 and 747-8 concurrently (only one of which was an all-new model, the other two being derivatives) - the 783 was canned, the 788 is 3.5 years late, and the 748 is 18 months late.