Pentagon allows restart of tanker program
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Monday it has given the Air Force authority to resume a program for buying aerial-refueling planes that has been on hold since 2004.
The announcement directs the Air Force to start a competition that is likely to pit The Boeing Co. against a team of Northrop Grumman Corp. and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the majority owner of European jet maker Airbus SAS.
A contract for the project, expected to be worth at least $20 billion, could be awarded as soon as next year.
Chicago-based Boeing lost the tanker deal in 2004 amid revelations that it had hired a top Air Force acquisitions official who had given the company preferential treatment.
The deal would have allowed the Air Force to buy or lease 100 Boeing 767 planes for use as tankers, but Congress killed it. The Air Force had said for more than a year that it was likely to reopen the deal to competition.
Under Monday’s announcement, a request for information is expected to be issued by the end of April, with a draft request for proposal expected this fall and a final proposal due in January.
The contract is expected to be awarded in the summer of 2007, the Pentagon said.
Pentagon officials have said they are aware a new tanker program will face close scrutiny because of the scandal.
“We must ensure that this program models a traditional competitive acquisition program, and that every step proceeds in a deliberate and transparent fashion,” Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said in a statement.
Earlier this year, a report for the Air Force determined that there are a number of medium to large commercial-based aircraft that can meet the tanker program’s needs to refuel planes in flight.
The report, conducted by the Rand Corp., said commercial planes built by Boeing and Airbus are the most cost-effective candidates for conversion to aerial-refueling tankers.
Acceptable aircraft include the Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787, and the Airbus 330 and 340, the report said. The report recommended that the Pentagon weigh other factors besides economics to determine how quickly to solicit bids.