South Korea has decided to buy aerial refueling tankers from European manufacturer Airbus instead of Boeing [BA].
The $1.3 billion deal was announced Tuesday, June 30. Airbus is due to deliver the first of four aircraft in 2019.
Boeing is in the midst of developing the KC-46 tanker for the U.S. Air Force, which has gone over budget and is behind schedule. Wiring issues delayed the plane significantly last year. The company is on contract to deliver 18 aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.
Airbus’ offering is a militarized version of its A330 passenger aircraft. It beat out Boeing’s equivalent 767, which is also a commercial aircraft converted for military use.
“The Republic of Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration formally announced that it did not select the Boeing Next Generation Tanker to meet the Air Force’s air-refueling needs,” Boeing said in a statement. “While we are disappointed with this decision, we remain committed to our partnerships in Korea.”
Airbus also beat a bid by Israel Aerospace Industries‘, which offered their MMTT, also a derivative of the Boeing 767. Boeing has promised the Air Force that its KC-46 tanker will cost at least 25 percent less over its life cycle than the Airbus offering. But the Airbus A330 is much larger than the Boeing 767. It can carry 254,000 pounds of fuel and at least 300 troops.
The announcement comes on the heels of the Paris Air Show, where Airbus netted 55 orders of its commercial aircraft totaling $15.6 billion in sales of four A300-300s and 31 of the larger A350-900s.
The A300 will be South Korea’s first aerial refueling capability. Its tanker should be delivered before 2019. And it’s already flying, which is something Boeing cannot claim. The KC-46A has yet to fly, though a watered-down non-military version flew in late 2014. The first flight of a tanker configuration with boom and fuel reservoirs is expected this summer.
The U.S. Air Force has a firm order for 180 KC-46 tankers to replace its antiquated fleet of 400 or so Boeing KC-135 aerial refuelers.
Airbus currently has orders for at least 60 A330 tankers from 10 countries. Twenty-four of them are in service worldwide, according to published reports.