36 KC-X tankers a year? Boeing, Northrop eye lucrative contract

Published 12:43 pm Tuesday, July 21, 2009

The House appropriations committee will meet tomorrow morning to go over the 2010 Defense spending bill.

The Defense subcommittee has put together legislation to allow the Pentagon to add 36 aerial refueling tankers annually, Inside Defense.com reports.

The Pentagon planned to replace its aging KC-135 tankers at a rate of 12 to 15 tankers each year.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., who serves as chairman of the subcommittee, has approved $440 million for the tanker deal for 2010.

Murtha has been bullish on a dual-award, splitting the contract between the Boeing Co. and rival Northrop Grumman and its partner EADS. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been steadfastly opposed to the split buy.

In this latest defense bill markup, Murtha allows some leeway for the Pentagon to either split the $35 billion deal or maintain a single winner, reports DoDBuzz.

The conditions for a single award could be slanted towards Boeing, DoDBuzz’s Colin Clark reports. The Air Force is to consider not only unit cost but also the 40-year life cycle costs of the tanker “including costs of fuel consumption, military construction and other factors normally associated with operation and support of tanker aircraft.” The tanker also has to go through final assembly in the United States.

During the last round of this never-ending tanker contest, there was much debate over where the aircraft would be built and which tanker contained more “American-made” parts and created more American jobs.

Northrop Grumman and EADS will base their KC-30 tanker off an Airbus A330. The first tankers would be assembled in Europe, with final assembly eventually planned for Mobile, Ala.

Boeing planned to put its KC-767 through final assembly in Everett, with some work being done in Wichita, Kan.

Both aircraft contain a mix of U.S. and foreign components.

The Air Force recently said it likely won’t release the request for proposals on the tanker until September. After two previously attempts to replace the KC-135s, the Pentagon wants to get this round right.

The Defense committee meeting, which starts at 6 a.m. PST, will be Web cast here.