Free Republic

Fighter deal bigger: 126 will rise to 260 February 13th, 2011 DC Correspondent Feb. 12: It is already known as the world’s biggest defence import deal in a long time. Now, it transpires, it is even bigger than that. The Indian Air Force is in the market to buy 126 Medium Multi-role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) from one of six foreign vendors bidding for the contract. Over time, however, the IAF plans to buy 260 of them, Deccan Chronicle has learnt. That means, what has been talked about as a $10-12 billion deal will eventually fetch the winner of the contract...

EADS will not improve U.S. tanker (Reuters) - Airbus (EAD.PA) Chief Executive Tom Enders said on Saturday the European planemaker's parent company EADS would not improve its bid to build a fleet of U.S. Air Force aerial refueling planes. "It is not our style to make hectic corrections at the last minute," Enders told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich. Enders said EADS had made a very good offer for the contract, that also made economic sense, whereas competitor Boeing Co (BA.N) had announced "last changes" to its bid. The transatlantic rivals have...

A U.S. Air Force officer told Congress that both Boeing and EADS handled "correctly and professionally" a situation in which each received data from the Air Force about each company's bid to build a fleet of refueling tankers. Major Gen. Wendy Masiello also testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Air Force unintentionally sent Boeing and EADS the rival bids on compact disks. The reason for the hearing was to determine whether EADS is in a better negotiating position after one of its employees briefly viewed a summary of the Air Force's assessment of rival Boeing's bid, according...

EADS North America’s TRS-3D Radar selected again for U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship TRS-3D naval multimode surface and air surveillance and target acquisition. (Photo: Cassidian) Lightweight, multifunction radar already operating on LCS 1 and U.S. Coast Guard’s National Security Cutter 07:59 GMT, February 2, 2011 Arlington, Virginia | EADS North America has received a contract from Lockheed Martin to supply its TRS-3D radar for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship. As part of a recent Department of Defense award, Lockheed Martin will construct up to 10 Littoral Combat Ships through 2015. Under the terms of its contract, EADS North America...

The World Trade Organization has apparently issued a final ruling saying that Boeing did indeed recieve unfair — not illegal — subsidies that benefit the development of its aircraft fleet. According to the New York Times, the WTO ruled, in a confidential report, that Boeing received about $5 billion in subsidies. The WTO focused on about $24 billion in R & D contracts Boeing receives from the military and NASA along with Washington state tax breaks that European governments say gave the Chicago-based company a technological and financial edge. Last summer, the WTO found that EADS had received billions in...

The U.S. Air Force will respond to a lawmaker’s inquiry on whether the Integrated Fleet Aerial Refueling Assessment (Ifara) can be eliminated from the service’s KC-X aerial refueling tanker competition, as well as comment on how important Ifara is to the award, an Air Force representative told the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) this morning. Moreover, USAF will respond to a question about what options were considered to “level the playing field” after a data-release mistake last year, defense officials said during a wide-ranging and mostly theatrical hearing on the error. The 2.5-hr. hearing, which quickly became more contentious among...

Political Squabbling in Canada Over Proposed F-35 Purchase Prompts Eurofighter To Launch PR Campaign for Typhoon By Dave Pugliese Tue, Jan 25 2011 Defence Watch Bill Sweetman has some discussion in the latest issue of Defense Technology International about Eurofighter starting a low-key campaign in Canada to promote its Typhoon. According to Mr. Sweetman, the firm sees the ongoing political squabbling about the Joint Strike Fighter procurement as a potential opening for its fighter aircraft. Lately the Eurofighter PR machine has been pumping out the information. On Tuesday the Eurofighter consortium announced that the operational fleet of Typhoons (in service...

US military's tanker deal: a saga without end Sun, Jan 23, 2011 AFP WASHINGTON - The battle between aerospace giants Boeing and EADS to supply new aerial refueling tankers for the US Air Force could drag on even after the military finally makes a decision on the contract, experts say. For the past decade, the Pentagon has struggled to launch a new fleet of refueling aircraft to replace the old KC-135 workhorses that date back to the 1950s, but the effort has been marred by scandal and bitter feuds. Two previous attempts to move ahead with a new tanker were...

Indian tanker contest draws Airbus, Ilyushin bids, but Boeing stays away By Greg Waldron Airbus Military and Ilyushin have submitted bids in India's revived competition for six in-flight refuelling aircraft, while Boeing remains on the sidelines. A New Delhi-based source close to the competition confirms that the Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT) is in contention for the requirement, along with the Ilyushin Il-78 tanker. The Indian air force already has an active fleet of seven Il-78MKs, says Flightglobal's MiliCAS database. Details on India's selection schedule are unclear, however. "There is no decision on the horizon," says the source. ©...

Can Boeing regain tanker bid balance from EADS? New Mexico Business Weekly . U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, Thursday visited the Everett (WA) factory floor where The Boeing Co. hopes to build U.S. Air Force tankers, and announced a new initiative to give Boeing back an edge. In the wake of numerous reports that EADS likely will win the Air Force competition to build new flying tankers, Cantwell said she’s asking the Senate Armed Services Committee to determine if the competition can still be fair after the accidental November release of bidding information to both Boeing and Airbus parent EADS....

European defense giant EADS expects the Pentagon to award the $35 billion KC-X tanker contract as early as next month. "The contract award … was to have been around the middle of November last year. It has moved toward next month," EADS North America Chief Executive Officer Sean O'Keefe said Wednesday in Paris, citing information from the U.S. Defense Department. European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. is in a fierce competition with U.S. arch-rival Boeing for the contract to outfit the U.S. Air Force with 179 in-flight refueling tankers.

Boeing, EADS tanker debate playing out in magazine ads? Wichita Business Journal - by Steve Wilhelm , Puget Sound Business Journal. While the U.S. Air Force hasn’t yet had the opportunity to evaluate tanker bids from Boeing and EADS, the fight continues to be played out publicly in the pages of industry publications such as Aviation Week and Space Technology. The Air Force is expected to make a decision in February. Consider the Jan. 10 Aviation Week issue, which includes a two-page ad from Boeing, complete with American flags and closeups of two crew members, contending that the 767-based tanker...

France qualifies new Exocet missile Published: Dec. 23, 2010 at 12:15 PM PARIS, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- MBDA's Block 3 version of the MM40 Exocet anti-ship missile has been given its operational qualification by the French Defense Ministry's armaments agency. The Direction generale de l'armement, or DGA, said approval was given Dec. 6 and the first four missiles were formally accepted Dec. 16 by DGA's quality control department. An initial batch of 45 missiles, ordered in 2008 from prime contractor MBDA, will be delivered to the French navy between the end of this year and mid-2013. The original version of...

Boeing, EADS backers clash over Air Force tanker bill in Congress Published: Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 3:17 PM By George Talbot Gulf Coast political leaders today accused Boeing Co.’s political backers of attempting to “sabotage” the U.S. Air Force tanker competition through 11th-hour maneuvering in Congress. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, both Republicans from Mobile, sharply criticized a bill sponsored by Boeing supporters and approved by the U.S. House under suspended rules late Tuesday. Bonner said that the so-called Defense Level Playing Field Act was an “underhanded” attempt to tilt the tanker contest toward Boeing. “The...

Bill complicates Air Force contract By JEN DIMASCIO | 12/21/10 6:38 PM EST The House on Tuesday approved an 11th-hour measure that supporters of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. complained could delay the already long-running competition to make $35 billion in new aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., who’s backing the EADS bid, said he and other supporters were caught off guard by the vote in the waning hours of this lame-duck session of Congress. “Boeing wants to have a leg up in the tanker negotiations, and they have been trying the entire...

After a turbulent year, Eurocopter concludes 2010 with four maiden flights of different helicopter types from its range of military and civilian helicopters. In particular, the NH90 programme, which last week saw two first flights, experienced some significant ups and downs in 2010. Meeting harsh criticism in Germany, along with the Tiger combat helicopter, both platforms as well as other military helicopters provided noteworthy accomplishments for other countries. Further, the Tiger HAP continues to support the French Armed Forces’ efforts in Afghanistan. Begun in mid-2009 – the helicopter’s first deployment to a war zone has already achieved far more than...

Airbus Works on Final Aerial Tanker Bid, Claiming Edge on Boeing December 17, 2010, 3:34 AM EST By Andrea Rothman Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus Military said it’s working on a final bid in the $35 billion U.S. Air Force airborne tanker contest as it seeks to trump Boeing Co. in a delayed competition that has already spanned nine years. Airbus’s defense arm is bullish about winning the order because its A330 airliner-based model offers greater capability than Boeing’s 767, Domingo Urena Raso, the unit’s chief executive officer, said in an interview in Toulouse, France. “Our plane is bigger, it...

Senators: Force Pentagon to consider subsidies in tanker Amid increasing speculation that EADS North America will win the U.S. Air Force's $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract, Boeing-friendly senators Wednesday called for forcing the Pentagon to account for illegal subsidies in the competition. A World Trade Organization panel ruled earlier this year that European nations illegally subsidized Airbus programs, including the A330, which is the basis for EADS North America's proposed KC-45 tanker. A separate WTO panel found in a confidential interim ruling that Boeing also received illegal subsidies, although those were reportedly much less than those that Airbus got....

Senators, France vs. Boeing WikiLeaks: Nation wanted EU firm favored by Shelby, Sessions By Eric Fleischauer The goal of giving a European conglomerate a contract worth tens of billions of dollars — pushed by Alabama’s U.S. senators — has strong backing from France, a recent WikiLeaks disclosure indicates. The cable also suggests France was not happy it was encountering hurdles with the EADS deal at the same time the United States was discouraging France from selling military equipment to Russia. The diplomatic cable, compiled after a Feb. 8 meeting in Paris, made clear that France is on the same side...

Brazil to seek deal for A330 tankers After issuing a request for proposals in September, the Brazilian air force's KC-X tanker/transport procurement has taken an unexpected turn. Despite having initially forecast the participation of at least three bidders, sources in Brasilia indicate that Airbus Military's A330 multi-role tanker/transport might be selected before the end of the year. Launched earlier in the decade to replace the air force's four Boeing KC-137 (707) tanker/transports, the use of which has been hampered by low availability rates over the last few years, the KC-X programme was fast-tracked early this year. © Airbus Military Problems...