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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...

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...

Experts : Tanker dual buy sensible Sunday, August 09, 2009 By GEORGE TALBOT Political Editor Forget the money. Forget the politics. The U.S. Air Force could gain a major strategic advantage by splitting its contract for aerial refueling tankers, according to military experts. A proposed "dual buy" would replace the Air Force's existing fleet of KC-135 tankers with two different aircraft, giving greater flexibility to war planners and speeding the retirement of the Eisenhower-era KC-135s, analysts said. Advertisement The compromise would also end a political stalemate between rival bidders Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp., spreading jobs across a broader...

<p>Outsourcing by aircraft manufacturers has resulted in substandard parts being built into commercial airplanes that carry thousands of passengers daily, according to a government report.</p> <p>Major manufacturers such as Boeing Co., General Electric Aircraft Engines and Bombardier/Learjet often cut costs by allowing foreign suppliers to make airplane components, but do not adequately supervise the quality of their subcontractors' work, said the report this week from the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.</p>

McCain Still Considering Tanker Deal By MATTHEW DALY – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. John McCain said Monday that he hasn't made up his mind on a $35 billion Air Force contract awarded to the parent company of French plane maker Airbus. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, helped scuttle a previous deal that gave the contract for the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers to Chicago-based Boeing Co. The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and its U.S. partner, Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, won a new competition with Boeing Friday to build the refueling planes...

“Youths” in the suburbs of Paris are escalating their intifada against French society, ambushing and firing on police. PARIS: Dozens of hooded attackers fired buckshot and nails at police this weekend, wounding four officers, France’s interior minister said. Michele Alliot-Marie called the Sunday afternoon attack an “ambush,” saying that about 30 people, some of them armed, were waiting for the officers in the southern Paris suburb of Grigny. The officers were responding to a call about vandalism at a local bakery. Three officers were hit in face with buckshot; another was hit in the leg with buckshot and nails and...

Pentagon officials will review a $40 billion Air Force program to buy 179 jet-refueling planes on Feb. 22, more than a week later than expected, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Defense Department said on Monday. The meeting of the Defense Acquisition Board, headed by chief Pentagon weapons buyer John Young, had already slipped to Feb. 13 from late January.

US Air Force leaders wary of tanker services offering By Rebecca Christie, Market Watch.com Last Update: 5:53 PM ET Jun 19, 2006 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. Air Force leaders say they are wary of outsourcing tanker services, even though the Pentagon's quest for an updated aerial refueling fleet has opened the door to third-party providers. Omega Air Inc., a private company owned by Irish investors, has offered the Air Force up to 60 modified DC-10s on an hourly basis. Its services will compete against new tankers offered by Boeing Co. (BA) and a team of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and...