Leenn026--美空军加油机采购合同推迟公布日期

Tanker contract award delayed to Feb. 29

By Gayle S. Putrich - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 7:20:58 EDT
美空军加油机采购合同推迟公布日期

10月25日美“空军时报”网站：美空军决定将价值300亿美元的179架新加油机采购合同公布日期推迟到2008年2月29日。目前，美空军对推迟公布合同日期未发表任何评论。参加此次加油机竞标的公司主要有两家，分别是诺斯洛普格鲁曼公司和欧洲宇航防务集团在空客A330基础上研制的KC-30加油机、波音公司在波音767基础上开发的KC-767加油机。按计划，美空军将于2013年装备首架新加油机。   
The Air Force is pushing back the award date of the $30 billion, 179-plane tanker contract until Feb. 29, according to

industry and congressional sources. The service originally expected to award the contract for its top procurement priority

before the end of this calendar year.

Air Force officials did not provide comment by Oct. 23.

Two competitors are vying for the contract: EADS and Northrop Grumman, offering an A330 variant called the KC-30, and Boeing

with its modified 767 tanker. The Air Force has said it plans to have the first tanker in the air by 2013.

Bids for the contract were submitted April 10, and the competitors have been fielding questions from the service ever since.

Richard Aboulafia, military aviation analyst with the Teal Group in Virginia, said pushing the award date back just a few

months was a winning move for the Air Force.

“I think they have every reason to delay. I don’t see a downside to pushing it off,” he said. “There’s always a chance

either product could experience a bigger technological glitch between now and the contract award, but it’s more likely that

both products will mature.”

Aboulafia said he wouldn’t count on this delay being the last.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it passing into the next fiscal year,” he said.

Both competitors intend to militarize commercial planes already in production, both are testing the waters of the

international market and both have chinks in their armor.

Boeing landed the first contract in the international tanker game several years ago, when the Italians and the Japanese

signed on for four planes each. But those deliveries have been long delayed — more than two years for the Italians. Boeing

has been sorting out a high-speed airflow problem caused by the pylons used to hold wing refueling pods since 2005; the

aerospace giant is now flight-testing the latest fix.

More recent tanker awards have gone to Airbus, with Australia, Britain and the United Arab Emirates selecting the A330.Tanker contract award delayed to Feb. 29

By Gayle S. Putrich - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Oct 24, 2007 7:20:58 EDT
美空军加油机采购合同推迟公布日期

10月25日美“空军时报”网站：美空军决定将价值300亿美元的179架新加油机采购合同公布日期推迟到2008年2月29日。目前，美空军对推迟公布合同日期未发表任何评论。参加此次加油机竞标的公司主要有两家，分别是诺斯洛普格鲁曼公司和欧洲宇航防务集团在空客A330基础上研制的KC-30加油机、波音公司在波音767基础上开发的KC-767加油机。按计划，美空军将于2013年装备首架新加油机。   
The Air Force is pushing back the award date of the $30 billion, 179-plane tanker contract until Feb. 29, according to

industry and congressional sources. The service originally expected to award the contract for its top procurement priority

before the end of this calendar year.

Air Force officials did not provide comment by Oct. 23.

Two competitors are vying for the contract: EADS and Northrop Grumman, offering an A330 variant called the KC-30, and Boeing

with its modified 767 tanker. The Air Force has said it plans to have the first tanker in the air by 2013.

Bids for the contract were submitted April 10, and the competitors have been fielding questions from the service ever since.

Richard Aboulafia, military aviation analyst with the Teal Group in Virginia, said pushing the award date back just a few

months was a winning move for the Air Force.

“I think they have every reason to delay. I don’t see a downside to pushing it off,” he said. “There’s always a chance

either product could experience a bigger technological glitch between now and the contract award, but it’s more likely that

both products will mature.”

Aboulafia said he wouldn’t count on this delay being the last.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of it passing into the next fiscal year,” he said.

Both competitors intend to militarize commercial planes already in production, both are testing the waters of the

international market and both have chinks in their armor.

Boeing landed the first contract in the international tanker game several years ago, when the Italians and the Japanese

signed on for four planes each. But those deliveries have been long delayed — more than two years for the Italians. Boeing

has been sorting out a high-speed airflow problem caused by the pylons used to hold wing refueling pods since 2005; the

aerospace giant is now flight-testing the latest fix.

More recent tanker awards have gone to Airbus, with Australia, Britain and the United Arab Emirates selecting the A330.