EADS Tanker Bid

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Now that EADS is going it alone, they have put up a web site like Boeing to show case there Product.

http://www.kc45now.com/index/

Videos of it in Action:
http://www.kc45now.com/media-library/video-library.asp

After seeing it flying next to F-16's and F-18's and the E-3, it does not seem all that big like Boeing keeps making it out to be, just has a massive wing span.

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by EADS

Nice pic of the C-135FR with the A330MRTT

[Rich H]

Did the Russians drop out?

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Did the Russians drop out?

Yeah..... kinda

That weekend that they said they were going to bid...all that changed by Monday of the following week, they claimed they never intended to bid, and no one ever said they were.

Executives at United Aircraft Corp. of Russia denied Monday that they planned to form a joint venture with a U.S. defense contractor to bid on a contract to supply a fleet of aerial refueling tankers to the U.S. Air Force.

On Friday, John Kirkland, a Los Angeles lawyer who said he represented an unidentified U.S. defense company that was in talks with UAC to form such a venture, told The Wall Street Journal that the Russian aerospace consortium would publicly announce the deal's signing by Monday morning.

On Monday, responding to reports about the expected deal, UAC President Alexey Fedorov said in a statement on the government-owned company's Web site that UAC "is not planning to take part in the tanker tender or set up a joint venture."

Mr. Kirkland's law firm, Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps LLP, said in a statement Monday that the lawyer was "engaged" a few months ago to work on a joint venture between UAC and the U.S. company. It said Mr. Kirkland had numerous conversations with UAC officials and received documentation that "stated the joint venture was approved, and that an agreement would be executed shortly."

Neither Mr. Kirkland nor his firm would identify the client company.

Mr. Kirkland provided the Journal with letters he said he sent to Mr. Fedorov and other executives at UAC on two occasions in February about forming a joint venture to pursue a bid for the tanker job.

In a copy of a letter dated Feb. 8 from Mr. Kirkland to Mr. Fedorov, the name of the client company was redacted, but Mr. Kirkland identified it as a publicly traded U.S. aerospace defense company.

Mr. Kirkland didn't provide the Journal with any letters that purported to be from UAC to himself or his client. In support of his claims about negotiating the venture, he provided a letter that appeared to be on UAC letterhead, addressed to a third-party company that Mr. Kirkland said was also going to participate in the joint venture.

Mr. Fedorov and other officials from UAC couldn't be reached for comment.

Mr. Kirkland also showed the Journal a letter dated Sunday that he said he sent to UAC seeking clarification about the status of the venture. He told the Journal he didn't receive a response.

In the letter, Mr. Kirkland named several UAC officials with whom he said he had spoken as recently as Saturday.

"They all confirmed again that the agreement would be signed this Monday morning," Mr. Kirkland wrote in the letter to UAC, which he says he emailed to officials including Mr. Fedorov and Chairman Sergey Ivanov.

Mr. Fedorov's statement appeared on the UAC Web site hours after Mr. Kirkland says he sent his email.

The episode is the latest twist in the Air Force's long-running attempt to replace its aging fleet of flying gas stations, which date back to the Eisenhower era. The service has been trying since 2002 to settle on a replacement strategy for the planes. On March 8, Northrop Grumman Corp. said it wouldn't bid on the contract to supply 79 new tankers, which could be worth up to $40 billion

Last week, European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., Northrop's erstwhile partner on the tanker bid, said it was considering submitting a bid of its own to compete against rival Boeing Co.'s offer, provided the Pentagon would extend the bidding deadline for 90 days. As of now, bids are due May 10.

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

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[quote] By Robert Wall

In a new submission to Congress, Airbus is trying to defend itself and its pending offering in the U.S. Air Force KC-X tanker competition against charges it has benefitted unfairly from illegal subsidies, and the European company argues that Chicago-based Boeing, too, has been on the receiving end of such funding.

The document is particularly aimed at addressing legislative steps to tie the World Trade Organization

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[quote] Editorial:
Boeing's salvo makes less sense than usual

By Press-Register Editorial Board
May 28, 2010, 5:49AM


EITHER BOEING is getting desperate or we missed the European Union

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[quote] EADS chief hopes to win tanker

By EMMA VANDORE (AP)

[DaveSims]

One of the things Boeing keeps slinging out there is that their product is built in America, but the Airbus isn't.  I would like to see what percentage of the Boeing is actually produced in America, because I know their commercial fleet is substantially built overseas, then shipped to Washington for finally assembly (part of the problem they have had with the 787). 

This fight is turning into exactly the kind of reason I hate politics.  Instead of telling what what is good about you or your product, and why I should pick your product over another, all I hear is the negative about your opponent.  Look at Airbuses campaign (which I am no Airbus fan by a long way), they continue to point at the strength of their own product, at its capability, and its proven track record.  All Boeing has is promises, and mud to sling at Airbus.  Makes me sick.  While I don't want to see anymore jobs leave the country that we have to, I do think our boys in the military should get the most capable product, and the one they think will allow them to complete the mission and bring them home.

[Mictheslik]

Shame about the russians...I was looking forward to seeing a two-engined An124 try to get off the ground fully loaded

.mic

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[quote] EADS KC-X Bid In, Tanker Rhetoric Heats Up

Jul 9, 2010




By Amy Butler

EADS North America is confident its Airbus A330-200-based KC-X proposal will win the long-running U.S. Air Force competition, but Ralph Crosby, chairman of the company

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[quote]
EADS-NA CEO, Ex-Senator On Crashed Aircraft
Aug 10, 2010

By Amy Butler abutler@aviationweek.com, Jennifer Michels jennifer_michels@aviationweek.com
WASHINGTON, WASHINGTON

EADS North America CEO Sean O

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[quote]Oct 6, 2010
By Guy Norris

LOS ANGELES

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[quote]Additional Fuel May Pay Off In Tanker Competition

Oct 19, 2010

By David A. Fulghum davef@aviationweek.com
WASHINGTON


The U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft fleet is going to shrink significantly, well-connected observers say, but exactly how much they do not know.

The details are, roughly, that the first group of 179 new KC-Xs will not be reinforced with KC-Y and KC-Z for 15-20 years and the larger KC-10 replacement will not show up for 30 years, says the former commander of the 12th Air Force and a key Washington-based airpower analyst in a briefing for reporters Oct. 19

In the near-term tanker competition for KC-X, time on station and total fuel carriage will likely be the key determinant between Boeing

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Senate panel to look into tanker data mixup
By Jim Wolf

WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:40am EST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings next month into an Air Force document bungle roiling a transAtlantic rematch for a potential $50 billion aerial-refueling plane contract.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said Wednesday he was prepared to launch an investigation into "the release of proprietary data" from rival tanker bidders Boeing Co and Europe's EADS.

At issue is what the Air Force calls "a clerical error" that sent Boeing and EADS computerized records in November with sensitive data on each other's bid for the contract.

"I also intend to hold one or more hearings by February 1 to consider these issues and to review the propriety of the procurement process of the KC-X tanker competition as it relates to this issue," said Levin, a Michigan Democrat.

KC-X is the codename for the Air Force's plan to buy 179 tankers to start replacing its 50-year-old Boeing KC-135 refueling fleet, a deal worth up to $50 billion.

The current contest marks the Air Force's third try to buy new tankers, which are used to refuel fighters and other planes in mid-air. The mixup could lead to a fourth round, for instance if it spurred a successful protest by the loser.

Levin was responding to a push for hearings from Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington state, where Boeing would manufacture tankers based on its 767 wide-bodied jetliner if it won the deal.

Chicago-based Boeing welcomed the planned spotlight on the issue.

"We're prepared to answer any questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee, in hearings or otherwise, that may result from the commitment Senator Cantwell received from Senator Levin to examine the recent release of our proprietary information to EADS/Airbus," said Dan Beck, a Boeing spokesman.

EADS, Airbus's corporate parent, was deferring comment to the Air Force, said James Darcy, a spokesman for EADS' North American arm.

The Air Force had no immediate comment.

Beck in an email said Boeing remained concerned about "the implications of the release of our proprietary information and we feel some unresolved questions remain."

"Until we're satisfied we have a complete picture, we're keeping our options open for how we go forward," he said.

The Air Force disclosed on November 19 that it had inadvertently provided the bidders "a limited amount" of each other's confidential information. It said at the same time it was delaying the awarding of a contract until early next year, from this fall, because evaluating the competition was taking longer than had been expected.

A tanker contract would give EADS, headquartered in Paris and Munich, an important beachhead in the United States, the world's most lucrative arms market.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BM0RG20101223

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Sen. Sessions Speaking Out about Tanker Controversy

(MOBILE, Ala.) Senator Jeff Session Tuesday accepted an award from the city of Mobile for his efforts to secure a littoral combat ship contract for Austal. The contract would mean thousands of jobs for the area.

"This represents a fabulous new addition to our community and at this blessed season it's just good to celebrate," Sessions said.

But for Sessions, it's one down, another huge contract left to go. That one, the $40 billion tanker competition between EADS and Boeing, keeps delivering controversy. The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to hold a hearing in January on the fairness of the competition. This comes after EADS and Boeing were accidentally sent confidential information about the other's bids.

What could these hearings mean for the competition? "I don't think the hearings, going into subsidies, allegations of subsidies will make any difference. They should not at least," said Sessions. "The (Air Force) has clearly stated that they are in compliance with the law."

Sessions also said time may be on their side.

"We're in the last few weeks of the award being offered and selected. The (Air Force), I don't think would change their course at this point," he added.

But as the hearings draw closer, Sessions won't deny there's a bit of worry. "No doubt, it's a matter of concern for us."
http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/sto ... MwKRg.cspx