Boeing Talks Up Tanker Re-bid

(MoneyWatch)  The Paris Air Show is ongoing which requires all defense contractors to exhibit and talk up their current and future programs. Boeing was able to disrupt the U.S. Air Force's, Northorp's and EADS' attempt to build a new tanker aircraft as their protest was upheld. Now with a new set of requirements and new contract about to be released Boeing is letting people know it is prepared.

In this article at Bloomberg among others Boeing is making clear that they are ready to bid whatever aircraft is needed for the mission. In the past contest Boeing bid a 767 tanker variant similar to those currently under construction for Japan and Australia. EADS and Northrop Grumman won with the A330 tanker which is also in development for foriegn customers.

One of the reasons cited by the Air Force for the original award to the Northrop/EADS team was the large capacity of the A330. It carried roughly twenty-fiver percent more gas then the 767. The negative for that aircraft was it was larger and required more runway and hardstand then the KC-135 it was replacing. The protest was based around the Air Force changing the requirements and not evaluating the proposals consistently.

Now Boeing says it is prepared to bid a larger aircraft then the 767, such as the 777, if that is what is required. This is nothing special. Any company getting ready for such a major competition would be doing the same thing. Especially when there is only one real competitor for the contract as in this situation. The reason the Air Force is where it is at is due to there really being only two companies outside Russia that can bid; and only one of them is American.

Boeing originally was given a sole source lease that was overturned by Congress for several reasons, not least that it turned out Acquisition Lead Darleen Druyen was conspiring with Boeing. This led to jail time for her and a cancellation of the lease for a more traditional acquisition. That attempt ended with the Boeing protest.

As this will be one of the largest acquisitions of the next several years there will be a lot more to come on this story.