Boeing, EADS submitting final bids for tanker contract

Feb 10, 2011, 22:32 GMT

Washington - Boeing Co submitted its final bid to the Pentagon Thursday hoping to win the lucrative contract to build the next generation of Air Force refuellers.

Boeing is competing with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co (EADS) for the 35-billion-dollar contract to build 179 of the new aerial refueller tankers known as the KC-X. EADS said in a statement it will submit its final proposal on Thursday as well.

Both aerospace giants must file final proposals by Friday in the bitter battle for the contract which has dragged on for years and grown increasingly political. The winner is expected to be announced within weeks.

Boeing said its plane is the best option for the Air Force as it is more fuel efficient than the EADS version and will save taxpayers billions of dollars over its operational life.

'Our best-of-Boeing team has offered the most capable and fuel- efficient tanker that will enable the US Air Force to continue serving as the world's finest air refueling provider without breaking future defense budgets,' Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney said.

Both companies launched advertising campaigns in the Washington market this month touting their respective planes.

EADS says its plane, based on the Airbus 330, is the only one 'flying now.' EADS is the parent company of France-based Airbus.

'We're proud to compete on the merits of our tanker offering and support the warfighter's right to choose the aircraft they will go to war in,' said Ralph D Crosby Jr, the chairman of EADS North America Chairman.

The Boeing tanker is based on the 767.

The dispute has shaped up along politcal lines, with Democrats largely backing Boeing, saying an EADS victory will ship jobs oversees. EADS has said it will build an assembly line in Alabama that will support 48,000 US jobs, gaining the support of Republicans with districts in the southern US.

The Air Force has been trying to find a replacement for its aging fleet of KC-135s since 2001, but has encountered numerous problems.

   The Pentagon in 2008 awarded the contract to a partnership EADS had formed with Northrop Grumman. But a congressional oversight agency sided with a protest lodged by Boeing, ruling that errors had occurred in evaluating the proposal, effectively requiring the Pentagon to hold a new competition.

   Northrop Grumman has since dropped out of the competition.