Northrup Grumman/EADS win USAF tanker bid
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Waiting game ?
Seems as though Boeing's "betting" on the Senator from Illinois winning the election and then relying on standard Chicago politics to kick in.
jon Ostrower on Flightblogger had some interesting sketches of 767 variants and their tail-scrape angles (without boom), which could make any 767 version marginal for the job anyway.
They'll be shouting for even more toys to throw out of the pram ... And if recent polls showing Sen. McCain going ahead are right, they could still be deep in the mire ...
(No Euro-Schadenfreude on my part, of course ...).
jon Ostrower on Flightblogger had some interesting sketches of 767 variants and their tail-scrape angles (without boom), which could make any 767 version marginal for the job anyway.
They'll be shouting for even more toys to throw out of the pram ... And if recent polls showing Sen. McCain going ahead are right, they could still be deep in the mire ...
(No Euro-Schadenfreude on my part, of course ...).
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Waiting Game
Jig Peter wrote:
"Seems as though Boeing's "betting" on the Senator from Illinois winning the election and then relying on standard Chicago politics to kick in."
Obviously Boeing is trying to push this off to the new administration, yes- they are counting on the "Senator from Illinois" as Jig Peter
stated in his post.
Enough-is-enough from Boeing, hopefully DOD will not bow to pressure tactics from Boeing and stick to their December deadline!
Yes, I work for Northrop Grumman and I'm tired of this protest nonsense as well as the BAMS UAV protest which the GAO denied Lockheed-Martin. Who ever heard of two wins and then two successive protests.
Lee N.
"Seems as though Boeing's "betting" on the Senator from Illinois winning the election and then relying on standard Chicago politics to kick in."
Obviously Boeing is trying to push this off to the new administration, yes- they are counting on the "Senator from Illinois" as Jig Peter
stated in his post.
Enough-is-enough from Boeing, hopefully DOD will not bow to pressure tactics from Boeing and stick to their December deadline!
Yes, I work for Northrop Grumman and I'm tired of this protest nonsense as well as the BAMS UAV protest which the GAO denied Lockheed-Martin. Who ever heard of two wins and then two successive protests.
Lee N.
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Misquote
"a large tanker can do everything that a smaller one can’t" is not what I said FOG.
I said "a large tanker can do what a medium tanker can, not the other way round".
ACN/PCN is a limiting factor for the airbus, but not critically because it has range and endurance. The 767 still requires a long runway despite better ACN.
In any case, if the airfield doesnt have the gas storage required to support tanking ops, whats the advantage in being there?
I said "a large tanker can do what a medium tanker can, not the other way round".
ACN/PCN is a limiting factor for the airbus, but not critically because it has range and endurance. The 767 still requires a long runway despite better ACN.
In any case, if the airfield doesnt have the gas storage required to support tanking ops, whats the advantage in being there?
Last edited by greenhornet; 1st Sep 2008 at 12:23.
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Boeing Mulls Leaving Air Force Tanker Rebidding
"...they're asking for a different kind of airplane than they asked for in the first competition." .
"...they're asking for a different kind of airplane than they asked for in the first competition." .
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Tanker - Boeing vs Airbus
KC-767 vs KC-45. I don't think so! This is Boeing vs Airbus or "USA" vs "Not USA". It's protectionism at its very best . . and why not? You can't seriously expect Boeing to lie down and let a "Foreigner" take over, without a fight - It's just not the American way
Maybe the Europeans should follow suit and stop buying F15s, 16s, 18s, 35s, C130s, C17s et al, and go with Typhoon, Gripen or Rafale and A400. Fat chance!
The qualities of either platform is almost incidental. Even the top fly-boys of the USAF have said they don't actually mind which one they get, so long as they get one of them . . . soon!
As a footnote, Boeing could delay things even more by waiting till the very end of the response period before declaring a no-bid . . . Over to Congress. Then its "Seconds out, Round 3".
Maybe the Europeans should follow suit and stop buying F15s, 16s, 18s, 35s, C130s, C17s et al, and go with Typhoon, Gripen or Rafale and A400. Fat chance!
The qualities of either platform is almost incidental. Even the top fly-boys of the USAF have said they don't actually mind which one they get, so long as they get one of them . . . soon!
As a footnote, Boeing could delay things even more by waiting till the very end of the response period before declaring a no-bid . . . Over to Congress. Then its "Seconds out, Round 3".
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You want that when?
Everything is under control.
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Pentagon cancels tanker competition
"The Pentagon has cancelled a $35 billion competition for a new air refueling tanker, leaving the politically charged decision to a new administration, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Wednesday."
Gates Confirms Pentagon Cancels Tanker Competition
Gates Confirms Pentagon Cancels Tanker Competition
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Succinct comment
See Bill Sweetman's comments on this Almighty Eff-up on www.Avweek.com, than which it would be very hard to do better without profanity.
Thanks, Bill !
Thanks, Bill !
Rebel PPRuNer
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Boeing officials responded that reducing the noise would also reduce the capability of the aircraft, and recommended the Italians change their specs.
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US DoD cancels troubled KC-X tanker contest
Full story here: US DoD cancels troubled KC-X tanker contest 
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Well done Boeing,
Your repeated obstruction in letting the customer select their chosen product does not hold you in a good light.
Antics like these make my 3 year old son look quite mature by comparison.
Then again all's fair in war and business.....right?
Your repeated obstruction in letting the customer select their chosen product does not hold you in a good light.
Antics like these make my 3 year old son look quite mature by comparison.
Then again all's fair in war and business.....right?
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Boeing openly stated they didn't understand the AF wanted a larger aircraft today, WTF over? If you propose the "wrong size aircraft" then according to FAR's you lose, period. I believe that is why Boeing has been making the "We will not bid", "There is not enough time to bid" noises. It takes a long time to rewrite a response with a different ac. But the whole sad part again, is that the the program is delayed for god knows how long, while self righteous, know nothing politicians interfere again, not to mention the careers of the blue suiters whose bosses did not stand up for them and say "Look morons, Boeing got it wrong!" PC gone mad.
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Boeing should first concentrate a little bit more in putting the 787 Ghostliner into the air....
They cannot even allocate the required resources to that (and the strike will not help) so how can you figure they could bring a new tanker design in such a few months ?
Anyway, the USAF is losing capacity in the process, and that's all that matters for many ...
They cannot even allocate the required resources to that (and the strike will not help) so how can you figure they could bring a new tanker design in such a few months ?
Anyway, the USAF is losing capacity in the process, and that's all that matters for many ...
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It'll be interesting to see if Airbus still proposes to link its RFP with a plan to shift A330 production to US soil.
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KC-X Cancellation
Once again our "friends" at Boeing demonstrated their perfection in controlling Capitol Hill and the DOD to obtain their delaying tactics! How many US Senators and Congresspersons are in Boeing's pocket?
Lee N.
Lee N.
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A330 tanker still the winner
A new competition will give EADS more time to develop an off the shelf product for the USAF. Boeing are still in a state of disarray, plagued by failure and strikes, and don't have a competitive product in the hangar. Boeing will be starting from scratch while EADS will be delivering real tankers next year. I can hear those 50 year old KC-135 airframes groaning....let's hope they can hold up?
Everything is under control.
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Pentagon: Tanker bids differed by $3 billion
John Young, the undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, said in an interview at the Pentagon yesterday that under the tanker proposal from Northrop Grumman and its partner European Aeronautic Defence & Space, developing the first 68 aircraft would have cost $12.5 billion, compared with $15.4 billion under Boeing's plan.