Who will be in charge of Air Force tanker contest?
Published 11:50 am Monday, May 18, 2009
The contest between the Boeing Co. and duo Northrop Grumman and EADS for a multi-billion aerial refueling tanker contest is set to resume mid-year.
But as of Friday, the government hadn’t decided whether the Air Force or the Pentagon will oversee the $35 billion competition, Reuters reports.
The Air Force’s troubles in overseeing the past two failed efforts to replace the KC-135 fleet has raised questions about whether the Air Force should be in charge, reports Aviation Week.
The Wichita Eagle looked at the aging KC-135 tanker fleet. A few interesting points from the story:
- “Every hour of flight time requires seven to 10 hours of maintenance.”
- “Corrosion problems are growing. And it’s increasingly difficult to get parts and components. At times, maintenance crews have waited up to two years for parts, officials said.” (bold added for emphasis)
Northrop and EADS are getting ready for the tanker contest to start. Airbus Americas spent $160,000 for government lobbying in the first quarter, AP reports. EADS is the parent company of Airbus.
Lastly, Northrop has resumed regular posts on its
