Air Force to issue draft request for new tankers soon

A new preliminary request for bids on the much-delayed KC-X airborne tanker replacement program could come within a couple of weeks, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said Monday.

Representatives of the two competitors for the massive program said they expect the request shortly, with one saying he had heard that the preliminary Request For Proposals would be circulated on Capitol Hill this week.

Speaking after a speech to the Air Force Association annual conference at the National Harbor convention center in Maryland, Donley said Air Force officials have been "stepping through the content of the RFP" with senior Defense Department leaders and were close to locking in the details. In his speech, Donley had said success in the KC-X procurement program was one of his most important issues.

The secretary said the RFP would not be affected by the World Trade Organization's recent preliminary finding that Airbus, which in partnership with Northrop Grumman Corp. is competing for the tanker replacement, received unfair financial support from European governments. The ruling, Donley noted, was not final and did not address Airbus' complaint that Boeing Co. has benefited from Pentagon funding.

Rick Lemaster, the KC-X program manager for Boeing, the other competitor for the tanker contract, discounted the WTO ruling.

The Air Force has been trying for more than a decade to start buying aircraft to replace its fleet of KC-135 tankers, which the service has been flying for over 50 years. A previous competition was won by the Northrop Grumman-Airbus team, which offered a modified version of Airbus' widely used A330 airliner.

But Boeing, which had offered a modified 767, protested the Air Force's decision and the Government Accountability Office agreed, forcing cancellation of the contract.

Donley said no decision had been made on whether the Air Force would be allowed to run the new procurement effort, or if the Pentagon's acquisition executive would be in charge.

At a media briefing, Lemaster said Boeing was prepared to offer the 767 or the larger 777 as the basis for its KC-X proposal, depending on the RFP requirements. He said the 767 was the best replacement for the KC-135, but if the Air Force wanted a larger platform to carry more cargo and passengers in a secondary role, the 777 would offer more capacity than the A330.

But Guy Hicks, spokesman for EADS North America, Airbus' parent firm, countered that the A330 "hits the sweet spot" in capabilities for the tanker and airlift missions.

On another controversial issue, Donley said the Air Force would consider buying more C-17 transports if Congress gave it permission to retire its old and unreliable C-5As. Congress repeatedly has funded more C-17s than the Air Force requested.

The House has approved three more planes and the Senate Appropriations Committee 10 in their respective fiscal 2010 Defense appropriations bills.