USAF TANKER AIRCRAFT CONTRACT

USAF Tanker Aircraft Contract

USAF Tanker Aircraft Contract

The Department of the Air Force announced today the award of an engineering and manufacturing development contract valued at more than $3.5 billion for the KC-46A aerial refueler to Boeing Co. of Seattle, Washington. The Air Force-led selection effort included experts from the larger Department of Defense community, including the office of the Defense Secretary's staff and independent review teams during each step of the process. "Many factors were evaluated during the tanker selection process," said Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley. Selection "took into account mission effectiveness in wartime and life cycle costs as embodied in fuel efficiency and military construction costs," said Donley, emphasizing that both offerors met all the mandatory requirements. "The thorough and transparent selection process was marked by continual dialogue with offerors to ensure the Air Force had a clear understanding of their proposals and the companies clearly understood the service's analysis of their offers," said Donley. "Gen. Schwartz and I are confident in the fact that when our young pilots, boom operators and maintainers receive this aircraft, they will have the tools they need to be successful at what we ask them to do," Donley said. "To the men and women of our Air Force, today's announcement represents a long-overdue start to a much-needed program," Donley said. "Your Air Force leadership, supported by others throughout the Department of Defense, is determined to see this through, and we will stand behind this work." The program will deliver the first 18 aircraft by 2017. Basing decisions for the aircraft will take place over the next couple of years.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a contract to build the next-generation in aerial refueling tanker aircraft. The new aircraft will replace 179 of the 400 KC-135 tankers which are currently used by the Air Force.

“We're honored to be given the opportunity to build the Air Force's next tanker and provide a vital capability to the men and women of our armed forces,” said Jim McNerney, Boeing chairman, president and CEO. “Our team is ready now to apply our 60 years of tanker experience to develop and build an airplane that will serve the nation for decades to come.”

Under the terms of the contract, the Boeing team will deliver the first 18 aircraft, designated KC-46A tankers, by 2017. The design for the new tanker is based on the Boeing 767 aircraft used for commercial passenger service today. The widebody design of the KC-46A allows the aircraft to support a variety of mission types including cargo, passengers, patients, and of course air-to-air refueling. The cockpit will feature the same state-of-the-art systems and displays as the new 787 Dreamliner from Boeing.

The contract award is also a big win for the U.S. job market. Boeing estimates that the KC-46A contract will support approximately 50,000 U.S. jobs within the company and jobs at more than 800 suppliers across about 40 ...