KC-45X competition back on

[A Guy Called Tyketto]

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Don't know if it was mentioned recently, but after EADS/NG
dropped out of the competition, leaving Boeing as the only competitor,
the entire comptition took a serious twist.

First, NG/EADS said that the competition's new rules were
stacked in Boeing's favour, so they were not going to bid at all.
Boeing offered up a revamped B767 instead of a B777 or B787, as many
had expected.

Second, came the first twist from the east:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011392418_russiatanker20.html

Russia's United Aircraft of Moscow now wants to bid on the USAF
tanker, offering the IL-96. Then comes the third twist from the east:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/04/21/340878/eads-to-offer-kc-45-tanker-to-us-air-force-as-prime.html

EADS is bidding on their own, without NG. They are still
expecting to build/assemble the aircraft in Alabama, as they were with
NG. This time, they're going along with Goodrich, Honeywell, and 4
other aerospace companies. They are still offering the A330; more than
likely, it will be the A332.

Personally, I like that EADS is back in the competition. The
competition needs to be fair and equal. IMHO, Boeing does not need to
have this just handed to them. If they win, I'd rather see them earn it
because they put up the best product in their bid. Thoughts?

BL.
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[JF Mezei]

Post by A Guy Called Tyketto
First, NG/EADS said that the competition's new rules were
stacked in Boeing's favour, so they were not going to bid at all.

Then Sarkozy came to visit Obama... And now EADS is bidding again.
Interesting that this time, it is without Grumman. The mention of
Honeywell and others is some of meaningless as they are default
suppliers of components for every 330.

Perhaps Obama didn't help France, but the other way around. By providing
*a* bid, EADS makes the selection of the Boeing 767 more legitimate. If
EADS is bidding just to make the selection process legitiamte, EADS
won't spend much money on a project it knows it won't win. So it might
present its default A3330 tanker (as sold to other air forces) instead
of bidding a customised US version.

Post by A Guy Called Tyketto
Boeing offered up a revamped B767 instead of a B777 or B787, as many
had expected.

Had the 787 delays not been as bad, I have to wonder if Boeing might
have switched it bid from the 767 to the 787 for this second round.
(especially since the 330 had won the first round).

As it stands, Boeing has enough headaches ramping up production of the
787 and paying late delivery penalties for so many customers that it
couldn't really add the load of military 787s, especially since it
hasn't finished designing the 787-900 which many airlines are waiting for.

The the 767, despite being ancient is proabbly much easier for Boeing to
do, even if it means that an assembly facility couldn't be converted to
serve the 787 production line. An since Boing has already implicitely
won this contract, it doesn't need to make much of an effort

Post by A Guy Called Tyketto
Russia's United Aircraft of Moscow now wants to bid on the USAF

THIS is interesting. A sign of the times. Imagine that, Russians in a
commercial bid for equipment for the US military. It wasn't that long
ago that this would have only been seen in some Star Trek world where
all nations work together.

While Russia may not have a chance to win this, this is probably a good
practice run for them to learn about the bidding process in the USA and
also present their wares and capabilities so they may be taken more
seriously next time around. It is a very smart move for the long term.
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[Miles Bader]

Post by JF Mezei
Had the 787 delays not been as bad, I have to wonder if Boeing might
have switched it bid from the 767 to the 787 for this second round.

Would the military really _want_ such new tech tho?

Post by JF Mezei
(especially since the 330 had won the first round).

The process that led to the 330 winning (basically because it was
bigger) was pretty screwed up, in that the judging of the bids didn't
really follow the criteria laid out in the request (and was accompanied
by a lot of political pressure); the new bid process is supposed to be
significantly more strict in how it judges the bids.

Presumably Boeing based its new bid on the new process, not the old one.

-Miles