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EADS North America Prepares to Build KC-45 Tanker Production Facility in Mobile, Ala. MOBILE, AL -- 12/08/10 -- EADS North America today announced that it is soliciting bids through its recently selected program management firm for design and construction of the Mobile Conversion Center where KC-45 aerial refueling tanker aircraft will be militarized for the United States Air Force. Preparation for construction of the facility began in November with the selection of Hoar Program Management to oversee the project. The selection of a program manager and initiation of work on the Mobile Conversion Center reflects EADS North America's commitment to...

Time to Split the Baby A solution to the Air ForceÂ’s tanker woes. John Noonan December 13, 2010, Vol. 16, No. 13 Few defense acquisition tales have been as sordid as that of the U.S. Air ForceÂ’s new refueling tanker, the KC-X. The tanker acquisition program first popped up on the national radar screen in 2001, when Senator John McCain called into question a no-bid contract that would have leased modified Boeing 767s to the Air Force instead of purchasing a new tanker outright. An ensuing corruption scandal marred the leasing deal beyond recognition. In the years since, the issue...

The first P-3 Orion aircraft modified by Airbus Military for the Brazilian Air Force was inspected today by Brazilian Minister of Defence, Nelson Jobim, during his official visit to Spain. The aircraft is the first of a fleet of nine which will undergo a complete systems modernization programme, including the installation of Airbus Military´s Fully Integrated Tactical System (FITS). As well as FITS, the aircraft will benefit from a powerful new suite of mission sensors, communications systems, and upgraded cockpit avionics. The engines are being updated and, depending on the condition of each individual aircraft, the structures are being renovated...

In April 2004 the Australian Defence Forces selected EADS's Airbus A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transport as a replacement for its ageing Boeing 707-based aerial tanker aircraft. Aside from supportability issues, the 707s had only a probe and drogue refuelling capability. Whenever its General Dynamics F-111s needed to air refuel, the Royal Australian Air Force had to rent a tanker with a boom. Several additions to the RAAF fleet, such as the Boeing 737-based Wedgetail, Boeing C-17 and future Lockheed Martin F-35 need a boom-equipped tanker to fully exploit their capabilities.Additionally, inter-operability with allied nations would be enhanced with a dual mode...

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will win the U.S. Air Force tanker contract over rival Boeing Co., according to a leading defense analyst. Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said EADS has emerged as the clear favorite for the coveted deal, based on the Air Force's internal analysis of the two competing bids. "Boeing has lost this competition," Thompson said, citing conversations with Boeing executives. "The only question now is whether they choose to protest the award, and I'm not sure they will."

After an Air Force mix-up sent Boeing and EADS computer disks with crucial data on each other's bid for the air-refueling tanker contract, Boeing initially was left at a disadvantage, contrary to previous reports. The Air Force then had to scramble to level the playing field in the $40 billion competition. When Boeing tanker-team officials got the errant disk last month, they recognized from the labeling that the disk was intended for EADS, and did not open it. But their EADS counterparts did open the disk they received and looked at a spreadsheet of data on the mission performance of...

Eurofighter hopes to sell 40 jets to Turkey ÜMİT ENGİNSOY ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News Thursday, November 11, 2010 A consortium based in Italy, from where Turkey already receives attack helicopters and military surveillance, wants to further boost its role in the Turkish defense market. Italy and Turkey should carry their commercial relations to the strategic level, says Italy’s deputy defense minister. Eurofighter, a consortium of European aircraft makers, wants to sell 40 Eurofighter Typhoon 2020 jets to the Turkish Air Force, senior company officials said Thursday. "We are offering to Turkey the opportunity to jointly develop the Eurofighter 2020,...

UK closes in on $11bn fighter deal The European-made Typhoon fighter is winning the fight for the $11.5bn (£7.1bn) contract to supply 126 fighters to the Indian Air Force in a deal worth $5 billion and 2,000 new jobs to Britain. By Praveen Swami and Dean Nelson Published: 10:00PM GMT 06 Nov 2010 The multi-role combat aircraft, manufactured by a joint venture between Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Alenia Aeronautica and the German-Spanish giant EADS, has come top in the Indian Air Force's technical assessment of rival bids, beating the American F16 and F18s, the Russian MiG 35 and its closest...

Eurofighter keen to open alliance to India By James Lamont in New Delhi The Eurofighter consortium – the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy – is considering inviting India as the fifth partner in its defence alliance should it opt for the Typhoon multirole combat aircraft as part of the modernisation of its air force. The Typhoon is vying against jet fighters from the US, Russia, Sweden and France to supply the Indian Air Force with 126 aircraft, worth an estimated $11bn. The competition is expected to be decided in the first half of next year. A bold move to open...

Eurofighter hunts for Asian contracts By Craig Hoyle The Eurofighter consortium remains confident about its prospects in a slew of Asian fighter competitions, believing that its new radar and weapons could help it win contracts in what has so far been a barren region for the team. “Countries like Malaysia, South Korea and Japan need a new-generation multirole fighter that can be effective against many of the other aircraft in the region, including the Russian Flankers or Super-Flankers or Chinese J-10 or J-11. Their threat perceptions also vary – some may need more interceptor roles and others maritime roles,” says...

BRUSSELS—The World Trade Organization is likely to rule Wednesday that Boeing Co. received some illegal subsidies from the U.S. government, said people familiar with the case, fueling the debate with European rival Airbus and opening the door to negotiations on state support to plane makers. The preliminary, confidential WTO finding will come more than one year after the WTO ruled in a similar case that Airbus had benefited from illegal European subsidies. The European Union alleges that Boeing benefited from some $24 billion in tax breaks, research aid and export rebates from U.S. federal and state governments. Boeing officials say...

Eurofighter offers Typhoon for Polish air force By Bartosz Glowacki The Eurofighter consortium has made its debut appearance at Poland’s International Defence Industry Exhibition (MSPO) in Kielce, with the Typhoon being promoted as a potential replacement for the nation’s RSK MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-22M4 strike aircraft. With sources suggesting that Poland’s defence ministry plans to upgrade some of its current assets, Eurofighter representatives say: “The price of the [Typhoon] aircraft, its servicing and maintenance costs during the next 30-40 years would be not higher than extending the life of ex-Soviet aircraft until 2028.” A campaign to sell the Typhoon to...

The US Air Force has started the countdown to the KC-X contract award after having received three bids to build 179 tankers, including a last-minute offer from a California company selling Antonov aircraft. The contest is likely to remain a face-off between the Boeing KC-767NewGen Tanker and the EADS North America KC-45, even though Antonov-bidder US Aerospace touted a possibly lower $29.5 billion price tag for its proposal.

Demonstrably proud of their bid on the KC-X tanker, EADS NA officials turned it in one day early and the company’s chairman slammed Boeing for “wasting a lot of time trying to derail” the competition “because someone thinks their plane is inferior.” Boeing’s attacks amounted, said company chairman Ralph Crosby, to a lot of “crap.” EADS flew five paper (and one CD) copies of its 8.800-page bid to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on a chartered prop plane, expecting them to arrive at 2:40 p.m. The company filmed the copies being loaded aboard and the takeoff for employees to watch later....

The long-running fight over the Pentagon’s $35 billion tanker contract enters a new stage on Friday when Boeing and EADS North America submit bids to build a midair refueling tanker. Air Force and Defense Department officials will pore over thousands of pages of technical and price data over the next four months to choose a victor in a lobbying and public-relations war the two companies and their congressional supporters have waged for much of the last decade. As they review the bids, a political fight will rage on with the midterm election as a backdrop — potentially derailing the much-coveted...

The Euro Hawk unmanned aircraft system (UAS), built by Northrop Grumman Corporation and EADS Defence & Security, successfully completed its first flight June 29. The high-flying aircraft took off at approximately 10:32 a.m. PDT from Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, Calif., manufacturing facility and climbed to 32,000 feet over Palmdale's desert skies before landing nearly two hours later at 12:24 p.m. PDT at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "The Euro Hawk marks the first international configuration of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAS, and strengthens Northrop Grumman's first trans-Atlantic cooperation with Germany and EADS Defence & Security," said Duke Dufresne,...

techmuse writes "The San Jose Mercury News reports that the California state legislature wants to put electronic advertising on license plates. The plate would display standard plate information when the car is moving, but would also display ads when the car is stopped for more than 4 seconds (say, at a red light). Not distracting or annoying at all! 'The bill has received no formal opposition. It passed unanimously through the Senate last month and is scheduled to be heard Monday by the Assembly Transportation Committee.'"

Eurofighter more 5th-gen than F-35, says Eurofighter In the latest Eurofighter World magazine, Typhoon's in-house propaganda press tells us how they really feel. See page 8. Including the Lockheed Martin F-35, which suffers from "inflexibility issues", in a discussion about 5th generation fighters "is a mistake", reads the pro-Typhoon article. Why, the Typhoon is even more 5th generation than the allegedly 5th generation F-35, according to Eurofighter. They've even got a handy info-graphic (shown below) that summarizes the argument

European fighters become 25% cheaper Ajai Shukla / Berlin June 10, 2010, 0:20 IST Economic woes provide region’s aerospace industry opportunity to undercut American rivals. Plummeting European currencies, battered by the euro zone financial crisis, are providing European aerospace corporations an opportunity to undercut their American rivals, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, in the contest to sell India 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for a price that has been estimated at $11 billion, or about Rs 44,000 crore. The six contenders for the MMRCA contract — US companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin, Russian company MiG and European companies Dassault, Eurofighter...

The Pentagon is delaying the award of a huge contract for its new tanker jet by almost three months, pushing it past the November elections. The contract is worth at least $35 billion to build 179 refueling jets. Bids are expected from Boeing Co. and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. The Pentagon's choice between Boeing, based in Chicago, and France-based EADS will be highly charged. Each company has allies in Congress who are eyeing jobs promised for their districts.