Got this from a yahoogroups list...
If I am correct 17.00 hrs in Washington will be 23.00 hrs CET.
"PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs
Release No. 030208
February 29,2008
Tanker Contract Award Announcement
WASHINGTON - Secretary of the Air Force, Michael W. Wynne, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Duncan J. McNabb, will announce the KC-X contract award winner in the OSD Press Briefing room 2E579 at 5 p.m. today at the Pentagon. A question and answer session with Ms. Sue C. Payton, Assistant Secretary, Acquisition, and General Arthur J. Lichte, Commander, Air Mobility Command, will follow the announcement."
Thermal wrote:To think that an aircraft is always chosen for it´s performance instead of it´s local economical value is sadly a myth.
Oh, you are quite right about that. And I don't have a problem with that. When an Air Force (or company for what that matters) is spending many billions on a new toy, there is obviously a lot more involved. However, if you issue an official RFP, with clear cut criteria on which the new toy is selected, you need to indeed select on those criteria. If you don't, there is no stop on legal precedures.
So if they knew which product they wanted from the start, they should have set the criteria such that this product would win. That happens often enough as well.
I was rather surprised at the news when I saw it on BBC this morning, as I was expecting the fact that the B767-based tanker is more "American" to weigh more heavily in the selection process.
Now the question is how long the appeals process is going to take (because you can be sure that Boeing are going to appeal this decision), and what the result will be after that. The only thing that is certain it this point in time is that Northrop Grumman/EADS now have the advantage.
tva2 wrote:KC-X is now KC-45
KC-X was simply the program name, KC-45 was always going to be the designation of the winning bid whether Boeing or NG/EADS won. That was decided back in 2006. Source
.."Boeing's loss of a $40bn contract to build a new in-flight refuelling aircraft for the US military has drawn angry protests in Congress.
Lawmakers from Washington state and Kansas, which have big Boeing plants, voiced "outrage" that it had gone to a consortium including Europe's Airbus. The planes will be assembled in Alabama but constructed largely in Europe.
Boeing has said it is awaiting an explanation from the military before deciding whether or not to appeal.
The new aircraft, named the KC-45A by the US Air Force, is based on the Airbus A330 and will be manufactured in partnership with US defence firm Northrop Grumman..."
Northrop, EADS Win $35B Air Force Deal Saturday, March 01, 2008 8:02:24 AM
By JOELLE TESSLER
The Air Force on Friday awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. and a European partner a $35 billion contract to build airborne refueling planes, delivering a major blow to Boeing Co.
The selection of Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the maker of Airbus planes, surprised industry and elected officials. Air Force officials said the larger size of the Northrop-EADS aircraft helped tip the balance in its favor.
Chicago-based Boeing, which has been supplying refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years and had been widely expected to hang onto that monopoly, could protest the decision, though the company said no decision has been made.
The contract to build up to 179 aircraft -- the first of three awards worth up to $100 billion over 30 years -- opens up a huge new opportunity for Northrop Grumman.
"They don't come along at this scale very often," Northrop Grumman Chairman and CEO Ronald Sugar said. "We do see this as being a very important component of our business for many years to come."
The deal also positions EADS to break into the U.S. military market.
In after-hours trading, shares of Northrop initially surged more than 5 percent before retreating to $78.83, an increase of 22 cents. Boeing's stock price fell $2.64 to $80.15.
The Northrop-EADS refueling tanker, the KC-45A, "will revolutionize our ability to employ tankers and will ensure the Air Force's future ability to provide our nation with truly global vigilance, reach, and power," Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb said in a statement.
Air Force officials offered few details about why they choose the Northrop-EADS team over Boeing since they have yet to debrief the two companies. But Air Force Gen. Arthur Lichte said the larger size was key. "More passengers, more cargo, more fuel to offload," he said.
"It will be very hard for Boeing to overturn this decision because the Northrop plane seemed markedly superior" in the eyes of the Air Force, said Loren Thompson, a defense industry analyst with Lexington Institute, a policy think tank. And as the winners of the first award, EADS and Northrop are in a strong position to win two follow-on deals to build hundreds of more planes.
Boeing spokesman Jim Condelles said the company won't make a decision about appealing the award until it is briefed by Air Force officials. Boeing believes it offered the best value and lowest risk, he said.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst Troy Lahr said in a research note it was surprising the Northrop-EADS team won given the estimated $35 million per-plane savings offered by Boeing. Lahr estimated the Boeing aircraft would have cost $125 million apiece. "It appears the (Air Force) chose capabilities over cost," Lahr said.
Military officials say the Air Force is long overdue to replace its air-to-air refueling tankers, which allow fighter jets and other aircraft to refuel without landing. The service currently flies 531 Eisenhower-era tankers and another 59 tankers built in the 1980s by McDonnell Douglas, now part of Boeing.
But the new contract has emerged as a major test for the Air Force, which is trying to rebuild a tattered reputation after a procurement scandal in 2003 sent a top Air Force acquisition official to prison for conflict of interest and led to the collapse of an earlier tanker contract with Boeing.
The tanker deal is also certain to become a flashpoint in a heated debate over the military's use of foreign contractors since Boeing painted the competition as a fight between an American company and its European rival. Lawmakers whose districts stood to gain jobs from a Boeing win were pressing this point on Friday.
"We should have an American tanker built by an American company with American workers," said Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., who represents the district in Wichita where Boeing would have done much of the tanker work.
In Everett, Wash., a few dozen Boeing workers protested outside a Machinists Union hall holding up signs saying "American workers equal best tankers," and "Our military deserves the best."
The EADS/Northrop Grumman team plans to perform its final assembly work in Mobile, Ala., although the underlying plane would mostly be built in Europe. And it would use General Electric engines built in North Carolina and Ohio. Northrop Grumman, which is based in Los Angeles, estimates a Northrop/EADS win would produce 2,000 new jobs in Mobile and support 25,000 jobs at suppliers nationwide.
"I've never seen anything excite the people of Mobile like this competition," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said. "We're talking about billions of dollars over many years so this is just a huge announcement."
------
Associated Press Writers Ben Evans, Matthew Daly and Sam Hananel in Washington contributed to this report.
(This version CORRECTS spelling of McNab to McNabb.) )
Sounds very good to me as Airbus A330 flight controls process engineer. This discision will positively affect myself as well. Althought I must say that it is a very hard discision for the American aviation industries which was till no always very hard driven on the deals with the military.
"O tempora o mores" would Boeings CEO probably have said after hearing for him this bad news
Unbelieveable that the yankees choose the better airplane. and that it's non american as well.... Oh well let's wait and see if boeing appleals and try to sell their ==censored== again...
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