Boeing [BA] expects the KC-46 aerial refueling tanker’s preliminary design review (PDR) to be completed by the end of the week, according to CEO James McNerney, who disclosed the information yesterday during a first quarter earnings conference call.
The next step in the acquisition process, the Critical Design Review, will take place in the third quarter of 2013, according to a company spokesman. The KC-46 completed its Integrated Baseline Review in August.
Boeing won the Air Force’s KC-X contract to replace the aging KC-135 tanker over rival European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS) in February 2011. The initial $3.5 billion contract is for the first 18 planes. The total program of 179 planes has a potential value of $30 billion (Defense Daily, Nov. 7).