The Boeing Co. has bested its European rival, EADS, for a $35 billion Air Force tanker contract, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
The win will keep the production line for Boeing’s 767 jet, which is the basis of its tanker, busy for the next decade. Boeing will replace 179 of the Air Force’s KC-135 tankers, which Boeing built back in the 1950s and 1960s.
EADS, the parent company of Boeing’s commercial rival Airbus, had offered the Air Force a tanker based on an A330 jet, which is larger than Boeing’s 767. In recent weeks, analysts thought EADS’ tanker was the favorite for the contract. After EADS is briefed by the Air Force, the defense contractor has 10 days to protest the Air Force’s decision. Boeing successfully protested the Pentagon’s pick of the EADS’ tanker in 2008, leading the Air Force eventually to cancel that contract.
U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., issued the following statement after the Air Force announced its decision to award Boeing with the contract to replace the tanker:
“The Air Force’s announcement confirms what I’ve known for a long time: Northwest aerospace workers are the best in the world and Boeing will build an outstanding tanker for our military.
“Boeing’s victory in the tanker competition will provide a much-needed boost to our local economy and put thousands of folks to work building the highest quality tanker for our service members and our national security.”
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., was equally effusive in a statement.
“Today’s long-awaited decision by the Pentagon is the right one for our military, our taxpayers and our nation’s aerospace workers,” she said. “At a time when our economy is hurting and good-paying aerospace jobs are critical to our recovery, this decision is great news for the skilled workers of Everett and the thousands of suppliers across the country who will help build this critical tanker for our Air Force.
“This decision is a major victory for the American workers, the American aerospace industry and America’s military. And it is consistent with the President’s own call to ‘out-innovate’ and ‘out-build’ the rest of the world.
“It has been a long and hard-fought competition, but I have been proud to stand side-by-side with our state’s aerospace workers and I look forward to being there when the first new tanker rolls off the line.”
This is the Air Force’s third attempt in a decade at replacing its aging tankers.
Live video of the announcement from KIRO-TV:
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