USAF KC-46A Tanker Update

[tva2]

...."EADS Executive: US Tanker Contract Award Date May Slip Into 2011"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. , courtesy of The NASDAQ Stock Market, Inc

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market ... -into-2011




...."U.S. won't award tanker contract this year"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 United Press International, Inc

http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Securi ... 290009072/

[tva2]

...."EADS, Airbus to open U.S. Sourcing Office"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/228961.asp

[tva2]

...."Air Force mixup: Military sends Boeing's tanker bid info to rival EADS and EADS' info to Boeing"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Alabama Live LLC. Courtesy of George Talbot

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/11/air_for ... eases.html


...."Air Force mixes up refueling-tanker bid information"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ker20.html


and a reader's response into the matter ....
By 'WillGill'

...."And think we depend on these people to protect us and our National security!"....

[aviodromefriend]

and a reader's response into the matter ....
By 'WillGill'

...."And think we depend on these people to protect us and our National security!"....

"Fortunately" this blooper occurred somewhere in an office, not out there in a place of real-life war.

I still think the now upcoming try to select an aircraft will not be the last one (and this only helps on that one).

[tva2]

By all means it is impossible to make a good conjecture about this mixup. For the bidding companies the advantages of having to review the competition's data might result into a rework of their bid. A 'compromised' bid... Either competitor will protest if a follow-on bid will be requested.

The US DOD imposes strict rules and audits on contractors and in the long run the Air Force display their incompetence. How in the world did they fail to get two packages out to the proper contractor?

In-company ethics seminars will gain momentum ......thou shall not read proprietary information from the other guy....

The Saga continues .....

[Wildpicture]

What a joke.

But then again the whole bid proces is one big joke. As if the USA would ever want to depend on a "foreign" weapon system and (especially in this economical crisis) would ever have "foreign" jobs instead of domestic ones......

[tva2]

...."Mix-up won’t affect tanker award, AF says"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010, Army Times Publishing Company

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/ ... p-111910w/

[tva2]

...."Pentagon Sees No Impact for Boeing, EADS After `Error' Shares Tanker Data"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Bloomberg L.P.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-2 ... rror-.html



...."EADS' Sean O'Keefe says Air Force bid leak won't affect contest with Boeing to build tanker"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 The Washington Post Company

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/politi ... opean.html



...."Pentagon: Air Force breach won't disrupt tanker contest"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Alabama Live LLC. , courtesy of George Talbot

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/11/pentago ... _wont.html

[tva2]

...."Air Force fires 2 staffers for blunder in sending tanker documents to competitors EADS and Boeing"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Alabama Live LLC, courtesy of George Talbot

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/11/air_for ... tanke.html



...."Report: Tanker screw up could lead to split buy"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/229372.asp

[ehusmann]

But then again the whole bid proces is one big joke. As if the USA would ever want to depend on a "foreign" weapon system and (especially in this economical crisis) would ever have "foreign" jobs instead of domestic ones......

The second part of your comment is very true. With the economic state of the US at the moment, creating jobs will be paramount in this bidding war. However, I do not agree with the first part. The US has many more ´foreign´ airplanes and helicopters in service right now than many would like to admit. AV-8, T-45, T-6, UH-72 to name just a few. And do remember the A330 was selected before (as was the B767 by the way, equalling the score).

Erwin

[Wildpicture]

The US has many more ´foreign´ airplanes and helicopters in service right now than many would like to admit. AV-8, T-45, T-6, UH-72 to name just a few.

You are right, but most are trainers or "utility systems". The Harrier is a true weapons system. But other then the original design, there is very little British about an AV-8 anymore. (and perhaps that is a good thing )
The new tanker would be the only aircraft type performing that specific task. My doubts are that the US would buy a foreign system for a task on which such a vital part of their defense would depend completely (without other US built assets performing the same tasks).

[pjotrtje]

As if the USA would ever want to depend on a "foreign" weapon system and (especially in this economical crisis) would ever have "foreign" jobs instead of domestic ones...

The amount of jobs created/retained in CONUS is roughly the same for both the KC-767 and the KC-45... So that is not an issue.

[tva2]

...."New Twist in Effort to Replace Refueling Tankers "....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 12054.html

[tva2]

...."A simple solution to the Air Force's tanker quandary"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Alabama Live LLC. Courtesy of George Talbot

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/12/talbot_ ... lutio.html



...."Do analyst comments portend possible Boeing tanker protest?"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/230134.asp

[tva2]

...."Air Force scrambled to fix tanker information mix-up"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ker01.html



...."Boeing exec: "We have a lot of unanswered questions" on tanker mix up"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Hearst Seattle Media, LLC

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/230248.asp