Boeing to submit final tanker bid on Feb. 11

Published 11:13 am Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The Boeing Co. is preparing to submit its final offer in a $35 billion Air Force tanker contest by Feb. 11, the company said Tuesday.

Boeing representatives met with Air Force officials on Monday at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to discuss the company’s interim evaluation,

wrote Bill Barksdale, Boeing spokesman, in an update Tuesday.

“This was our last opportunity to get feedback from the Air Force on our proposal before the end of the tanker competition,” he wrote on the company’s tanker Web site.

Boeing is making final adjustments to its bid before submitting it to the Air Force on Feb. 11.

The company is offering the Air Force a tanker based on its Everett-built 767.

“As the competition comes down to the wire, our tanker team is focused on one thing: providing the Air Force with the most capable tanker at the lowest cost to the taxpayer,” Barksdale wrote.

Boeing is competing against EADS and its A330-based tanker for the chance to replace 179 of the Air Force’s aging KC-135 tankers.