Northrop Grumman/Airbus pulls out of Air Force tanker bid (MORE updates)

[JohnBrowdie]

this wouldn't seem so damn erratic if each "new" selection process didn't seem to "unmake" the selection of the previous selection process.  the winner of round one loses round two, wins round three, loses round four . . . you could have tossed a coin and gotten the same quality of decision, and you would have saved million and million of dollars, and made the decision YEARS earlier..

Analyst: Boeing's hopes fading for tanker win

Following an inadvertent peek at Defense Department data, Boeing executives believe the Air Force is likely to award the long-awaited tanker contract to Airbus parent company EADS, according to a leading defense analyst with close ties to Boeing.

That view of the feeling inside Boeing is confirmed by two congressional sources familiar with the $40 billion tanker competition.

Citing conversations with several unnamed senior Boeing officials, Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute said the company's hopes faded when Air Force analyses of the two contending airplanes were accidentally leaked to both sides earlier this month.

Those analyses confirmed Boeing's worst fears, Thompson said. They showed the Airbus A330 tanker scoring well ahead of the Boeing 767 tanker in a mission-effectiveness rating.

"The conclusion you come to is that probably Boeing is going to lose this," said Thompson, who has written papers supporting the Boeing bid.

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[JohnBrowdie]

this thread started almost a year ago, and the selection is still more or less where it was then. 

Boeing to revise bid for US military tanker deal

WASHINGTON — Boeing said Tuesday it would submit a new, "final" bid for a $35 billion contract to supply the US military with 179 aerial refueling tankers, as it tries to beat European rival Airbus.

A Boeing spokesman said the firm and US Air Force officials held talks Monday to discuss the company's proposal and revisions would follow.

"This was our last opportunity to get feedback from the Air Force on our proposal before the end of the tanker competition," Bill Barksdale said in a company blog post. 

news updates are free here at stink eye.

"Based on this feedback, we're now making final adjustments to our bid, which we will provide February 11 to the Air Force," he said.

The revised final proposal "will represent our best and final offer to the Air Force -- one that matches decades of tanker experience and the best state-of-the-art technology with a proven Boeing airframe to best fulfill the Air Force's requirements."

Analysts expect the Air Force to announce its decision in March on the contract to replace 179 tankers from an aging fleet of Boeing KC-135s from the 1950s.

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[jafo2010]

I know this game...it is called....when the desired vendor does not win the contract...try, try, try again.

I think it is absurd that the USA has one vendor to compete on this project, with a distant 2nd that needs a European airframe.

This is just as absurd as the US government arranging a contract for Russia to build helicopters for the Afghans.  That makes no sense either.

When millions of people are out of work in America, the US government is pushing military equipment made by Russia while our youth lay their lives down for these people.

IF THAT ISN'T CRIMINAL, WHAT IS??

[JohnBrowdie]

boeing wins the latest final chapter in the seemingly never ending tanker saga.

jbz

Boeing Wins Pentagon Tanker Contract

The Pentagon on Thursday awarded Boeing Co. a contract that will eventually be worth more than $30 billion for aerial refueling tankers, closing a high-stakes bidding contest between the U.S. aerospace giant and EADS North America, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., but potentially launching a fresh wave of political controversy.

The award preserves Boeing's decades-long position as supplier of refueling aircraft to the Air Force, and shores up its U.S. manufacturing base for wide-body aircraft. But the Pentagon's previous efforts to acquire Boeing tankers were upended by political scandal, and a protest could stall delivery of the aircraft.

On Thursday, the Defense Department said it would pay Boeing more than $3.5 billion to deliver the first 18 of the new aircraft by 2017.

Boeing's victory promises to breathe new life into its venerable 767 wide-body aircraft, which first entered service in 1982 but has seen commercial orders dwindle in recent years. Boeing has 50 orders remaining for the twin-engine jet that has been a long-haul workhorse for airlines around the world. The tanker win will allow Boeing to keep building the jets at its huge Everett, Wash., factory and could allow the company to attract new commercial orders, as well.

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[Miss Mia]

EADS files a protest in 3, 2, 1....

[JohnBrowdie]

boeing even thought they were going to lose.  it's difficult to understand how the winner of round 2 lost in round 3, unless the specifications changed dramatically.

but this certainly isn't the strangest thing that has happened in the air force tanker saga.

jbz

[JohnBrowdie]

shelby is obviously not happy.  the WA senators regurgitated the standard liberal boilerplate about "winning the future" (which is perhaps the most inane saying ever given voice) and a "victory for workers", blah, blah.

jbz
 

Boeing won air tanker contract due to 'Chicago politics', says Richard Shelby

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said today that Boeing Co. won a $35 billion contract to build an air refueling tanker due to "Chicago politics."

Chicago-based Boeing defeated the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. for the contract.  EADS planned to assemble the tanker in Mobile.

“I’m disappointed but not surprised," Shelby said.  "Only Chicago politics could tip the scales in favor of Boeing’s inferior plane.  EADS clearly offers the more capable aircraft.  If this decision stands, our warfighters will not get the superior equipment they deserve.”

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[JohnBrowdie]

it's finally over.  EADS won't appeal.  the air force finally gets it's tanker. 

Boeing's competitor won't appeal tanker decision

WASHINGTON -- Boeing's victory in the decade-long aerial tanker saga will stand.

The company's European competitor for the $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract said Friday that it won't appeal last week's decision by the Air Force to accept Boeing's bid.

The contract is one of the largest ever awarded by the U.S. military.

Officials with the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., the parent of France-based Airbus, made the announcement at the National Press Club in Washington.

"Let me cut to the chase ... After meeting with the Air Force and the Department of Defense and evaluating the information that they provided to us in their debriefing, EADS North America has decided not to protest the KC-X contract," said Ralph Crosby Jr., the chairman of EADS North America.

He said the company's reasoning was simple: "The outcome was decided by price. Boeing's offer was at a lower price than ours."
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[jafo2010]

Amen!  The contract went to a USA company....


The idea of this contract going to a Russian or European company was absurd.

[JohnBrowdie]

the russian angle was particularly screwy.  but everything about this story was screwy.

[apples]

Isn't Boeing the ones who pulled out of Wash State 'cause of Unions?

[JohnBrowdie]

boeing built it's second 787 production line in south carolina, which is a "right to work" state.  conventional wisdom holds that boeing was fleeing the union's stranglehold in everett.

[JohnBrowdie]

nonsense.  patski murranova would have forced the air force to buy a go-cart, as long as it was a union built go-cart.

“I made sure that the Pentagon put the needs of those who will fly and maintain these tankers first. I told them our Air Force needed a straightforward process that would lead to a clear winner, not the subjective decision making that has continually delayed getting these planes into the hands of our men and women in uniform.

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[natstew]

I know this game...it is called....when the desired vendor does not win the contract...try, try, try again.

I think it is absurd that the USA has one vendor to compete on this project, with a distant 2nd that needs a European airframe.

This is just as absurd as the US government arranging a contract for Russia to build helicopters for the Afghans.  That makes no sense either.

When millions of people are out of work in America, the US government is pushing military equipment made by Russia while our youth lay their lives down for these people.

IF THAT ISN'T CRIMINAL, WHAT IS??



Kinda like counting votes in Minnesota, count them until the Democrat wins then quit counting.