This analysis at The Gehrson-Lehamn Group stresses that the Northrop Grumman/EADS A330 based tanker proposal will be more expensive then the Boeing 767 one due to the larger size of the aircraft and the requirements for investments in infrastructure to support it. The conclusion is that the 767 aircraft is currently closer in size to the existing KC-135 fleet and the existing Air Force bases, runways and facilities will support it with little or no modifications.

A key part of building a good proposal and running a smart acquisition campaign is to always remember the customer. That's not very tough on KC-X. We see the U.S. Air Force working very hard to fly and maintain their current fleet of KC-135 air refueling tankers each day and realize they must have a new tanker as soon as possible. I just read a posting in Air Force Magazine's Daily Report eNewsletter ("Afghan Surge Prompts Mobility Records") describing the service's record breaking efforts in Afghanistan that tells it all. According to the story, USAF mobility forces have set records for cargo airdropped (4.1 million pounds in September). On the tanker side, approximately 80 million pounds of fuel was offloaded last month compared to 60 million pounds way back in February. For those of you who have served in the Air Mobility Command, this type of surge is not new but still very impressive. Whether it's the planners at the Tanker Airlift Control Center managing the global movement of aircraft or the aircrews and maintainers keeping it all on schedule despite some difficult challenges, it is very clear how important the U.S. Air Force is to keeping America safe and projecting our nation's reach. Read more at United States Tanker

EADS North America announced today that former NASA Administrator and Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe will take over as their CEO. The current CEO, Ralph Crosby, will remain with the company and head up the tanker proposal. At the announcement EADS CEO Louis Gallois reiterated the company’s desire to do business in the United States and hinted at further acquisitions of companies.

O’Keefe most recently had been the head of General Electrics aviation unit.

Prior to the release of the latest RFP for the KC-X tanker program some in Congress and the media mooted using a split award for the aircraft. This would allow for faster fielding of tankers to expedite replacement of the older KC-135′s. It would also possibly reduce the chance of a protest by either Northrop or Boeing as well as spreading the contract around to different states.

The biggest issue with the idea is that it would add cost to the program. Through the necessity of having two separate support tails the overall program would be more expensive. There would be two training tracks, sets of support equipment and parts pools alone. The aircraft also may not be complimentary. The DoD estimated back in April that the total additional cost would be over $14 billion.

Obviously neither the Air Force or the U.S. Government has this kind of money available to support the idea. It would have to be payed for at the expense of other Air Force or DoD programs. It may be that cost estimates with more refinement are created that reduce this, but right now the plan is one company and one aircraft.

Since 9/11 the U.S. military has moved to integrate even more their National Guard and Reserve Forces. They have been called up at high rates and have received more and upgraded equipment. Currently the Air National Guard of various states like Alabama fly KC-135 tankers. If the full fleet of KC-X aircraft are built then some of the states will receive these new tankers. Recently it was announced that the Air National Guard will provide participation on the KC-X source selection. This is most likely to help make sure that any specific requirements of the Air Guard are considered and is not common with programs of this size.

One of the main reasons we created UnitedStatesTanker.com and this blog was to provide some insight into a very critical acquisition effort to replace America's air refueling tanker fleet.

For those who've been following that newly-started KC-X competition, you know the U.S. Air Force released their draft Request for Proposal (RFP) Sept. 25. This document goes into detail about the 373 requirements that must be met to participate in the competition. It also describes how proposals will be scored and even what happens in case of a tie. Our United States Tanker team has spent a great deal of time studying the draft RFP. Remember this is the main document we'll be using to decide which member of our KC-7A7 'family of tankers' to offer, or whether to offer both.

But we can't just make decisions on what's written in the document alone. Our main focus as we drive toward some key internal decisions is clarity. We must clearly understand how the service's requirements are defined and prioritized, and how our proposal will be evaluated.

So how do we get those answers? Simple...just ask.

Any company seeking to compete to build the replacement for the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet can submit questions to the KC-X Tanker Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, and have them answered online at the Federal Business Opportunities website.

We began submitting questions earlier this month and look forward to seeing the answers posted on the public website soon. While some of that Q&A may be administrative in nature, you might gain some interesting insight into how the process works by checking out the site. Feel free to tell us what you'd ask.

DefenseNews reported last month on comments by Air Force senior leadership relative to the new tanker contest. The one thing they did not want was a protest of the next award. Obviously this would cause delays to implementing the new contract and even worse cause a fourth attempt at the award.

Unfortunately due to the stakes involved a protest by the loser or losers is almost assured. Hopefully the protest can be resolved quickly and not hold up the program even more then it has been.

The Northrop Grumman and EADS team will build their tanker in Mobile, AL if they win the contract again. Last year when they had done so before the Boeing protest the plant was ready to go. This means that the team has the support of Alabama’s politicians and media. Senator Sessions had tried to get language inserted into a defense funding bill that might have helped Northrop but lost that vote.

Now the Mobile Press-Register has an article where the experts they interviewed question the structure of the new draft RFP and how it may be unfair to Northrop and EADS. It is certainly true that a focus on price over capability might affect the Air Force’s source selection but it may be too early to tell that. Plan on seeing more articles supporting the local favorite in Alabama media.

Boeing has maintained a facility at Wichita, KS for years. In their last proposal for the KC-X Boeing planned on using this plant to do the military conversions of the aircraft as it has for so many others in the past. Unfortunately with the new proposal Boeing no longer makes that guarantee. They are trying to minimize their total cost and that may require the use of another site then Wichita. Unfortunately this will be bad for the Wichita plant as it has been looking for work to keep it open in the future.

As the proposals come in things like this will be interesting to look out for.

Hoping you'll read an interesting editorial ("This Time, Air Force Needs to Deliver") posted on the St. Petersburg Times website on the U.S. Air Force's KC-X Tanker competition.  It mentions nearby MacDill AFB (home to the active duty 6th Air Mobility Wing and its associate Air Force Reserve Command 927th Air Refueling Wing) and the KC-135R fleet assigned there.

Most of the editorial focuses on the new competition and how changes from past acquisition efforts will allow the Department of Defense and Air Force to make an "apples-to-apples comparison of the bids."

While most will be picking apart the Draft Request for Proposal and trying to forecast who may win next summer, the most compelling part of this piece was the reference to Air Force folks having to build their own spare parts since they were no longer available for the Eisenhower-era Stratotanker.

It's no secret that the KC-135 fleet needs to be replaced immediately. But as we enter into the KC-X competition and prepare our bid, we always remind our team how critically important the tanker fleet is to this nation, the urgency to win this contract and to start building new tankers.

The St. Petersburg Times suggests that the Air Force "procure a plane that meets its mission requirements for the right price." We firmly believe the Boeing Company and our Tanker Team will do just that by offering a combat-ready KC-7A7 tanker with max capability at lowest cost.