EVERETT — The Air Force tanker contest will proceed as planned, despite a recent, contentious trade ruling against the Boeing Co.’s rival, said an Air Force official Monday.
The Air Force is expected to release its preliminary tanker requirements to competitors Boeing and duo Northrop Grumman and EADS this month. EADS is the parent company of Airbus, which was found to have benefited from illegal government subsidies by the World Trade Organization in a Sept. 4 ruling.
“We see no need to make immediate adjustments” to the draft requirements, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told Reuters, essentially giving Northrop and EADS the OK to compete against Boeing.
After the trade ruling, political leaders from Washington state were quick to suggest the Air Force should consider the World Trade Organization decision as it begins the $35 billion tanker contest.
“As the Department of Defense moves forward on purchasing the next generation of aerial refueling tankers, I will fight to make sure that U.S. taxpayers don’t foot the bill for illegal European subsidies,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., about the trade ruling.
However, Northrop and EADS supporters have urged caution. Republican Sen. Richard Shelby, whose state of Alabama is where Northrop and EADS will assemble their tanker, sent a letter last week to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Shelby notes that the tanker airframe in question, an Airbus A330-200, was not found to have benefitted from an illegal subsidy by the World Trade Organization.
“It would be a grave mistake, with severe consequences to both our economy and trade relations, to use a preliminary WTO report as justification for restricting the ability of our military to procure the best equipment possible,” Shelby wrote.
For at least the initial requirements, the Air Force seems to side with Shelby. The agency will release its final requirements by year’s end.
The initial requirements, due out shortly, should give Boeing a good idea about which tanker it should offer the Air Force.
“We are prepared to offer the best solution through the KC-7A7,” said Rick Lemaster, director of Boeing’s tanker program, in a statement. “Whether it’s the agile 767-based tanker or the larger 777-based tanker, Boeing is ready to deliver maximum capability at the lowest cost.”
In February 2008, the Air Force picked Northrop and EADS’ larger KC-30 tanker, based on an Airbus A330 commercial jet, over Boeing’s KC-767. Boeing protested the Air Force’s 2008 decision, and the Air Force eventually halted its contract with Northrop after government auditors sided with Boeing.
Boeing won’t offer the same 767-based tanker as it did last time around. That tanker combined 767 wings and fuselage sections from different 767 models, effectively making an aircraft that Boeing had never built. The hodgepodge tanker earned the nickname “Frankentanker” from Boeing opponents.
“This will not be the same 767 described several years ago,” Lemaster told Boeing’s Frontiers magazine, in the September 2009 edition.
In response to criticism that its 767 is too old to be the Air Force’s new tanker, Boeing plans to add a digital cockpit “as advanced” as those in Boeing’s newer 777 and 787 jets, Lemaster said. But Boeing is also working on a 777-sized tanker in case the Air Force opts for a larger aircraft.
On Monday, Boeing launched a new Web site, UnitedStatesTanker.com, to communicate about the tanker competition.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
