By Marina Malenic
Boeing [BA] and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) yesterday submitted final proposals for the Air Force’s multibillion- dollar KC-X aerial refueling tanker replacement competition.
Boeing’s proposal offers a fleet of 767-based aircraft, while EADS North America is pitching the KC-45, based on the Airbus A330 MRTT.
The companies had been asked by the Pentagon to submit final proposal revisions by today.
Boeing says that its tanker “will save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars in fuel costs over the next 40 years and support 50,000 American jobs,” according to a press statement released yesterday by the company.
“This decision is critical to America’s national security and its manufacturing base,” said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney.
EADS NA hailed its aircraft as “the only tanker in the competition that is flying now and certified.” If selected, the company plans to build the airplanes at a new production center in Mobile, Ala.
“Our fighting men and women deserve the most modern, capable and proven tanker in the world, and American workers deserve the jobs that the KC-45 will create here at home,” said EADS NA Chairman Ralph Crosby.
Late last year, Air Force officials said the decision would come early in 2011. The service at that time sought to “level the playing field” after inadvertently providing the companies data about each other’s bids by later intentionally releasing the information to the firms (Defense Daily, Dec. 2).
Neither Boeing nor EADS officials have ruled out legally protesting the release of the information (Defense Daily, Nov. 23).
The highly politicized contest is the Air Force’s second attempt to replace its Eisenhower-era tankers. Boeing successfully protested a previous win by EADS NA and then-partner Northrop Grumman [NOC]. U.S. officials have said that the deal could be worth up to $50 billion over the life of the program.