USAF KC-46A Tanker Update

[tva2]

...."Gregoire, other governors, in DC pushing for Boeing tanker "....

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http://www.king5.com/news/business/Greg ... 5717.html?

[tva2]

...."UPDATE 3-US air tanker terms expected Wednesday"....

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2220561820100223


...."Gates sees two competitors for air tanker bid"....

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6 ... liticsNews


...."Governors backing Boeing in air tanker battle form nine-state coalition"....

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http://blog.al.com/live/2010/02/governo ... in_ai.html

[tva2]

...."Tanker RFP Brief"....

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http://www.dodbuzz.com/2010/02/24/tanker-rfp-brief/#


...."Possible End Seen in Fight Over New Air Tankers"....

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http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02 ... .html?_r=1


...."Final Tanker RfP Keeps Evaluation Plans, Features Only 'Technical' Adjustments"....

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http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i= ... =EUR&s=AIR



...."Pentagon’s Tanker Plan May Not Satisfy Northrop, Lawmakers Say"

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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-0 ... s-say.html



...."Tanker RFP ... Not Quite Fixed Price"....

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http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/blogs/de ... d=blogDest

[tva2]

...."KC-X RFP document available for download"....

Document copyright © 2010 FedBizOpps.gov

https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity ... e&_cview=1

...."Statement From Northrop Grumman on Receipt of Tanker Final RFP"....

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http://investor.northropgrumman.com/pho ... highlight=


...."Boeing Statement on Release of US Air Force KC-X Tanker Final Request for Proposal "....

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http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=1087

[tva2]

...."Alabama lawmakers upset over setback in tanker contract"....

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http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/art ... r+contract



...."Final plan for Air Force tanker bids plays to Boeing's advantages"....

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ker25.html

[tva2]

.."CHRONOLOGY-U.S. Air Force tanker saga continues"....

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN242 ... arketsNews

[tva2]

...."Politics of tanker battle spinning out of control"....

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http://www.tdn.com/news/opinion/article ... 03286.html


...."US KC-X Tanker Competition: Just Once More, Please "....

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http://www.defpro.com/daily/details/516/

[tva2]

...."Air Force tanker contract explained "....

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http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.p ... id=1897389



...."Air Force Hopes Third Time is Lucky in Boeing-Airbus Tanker Contest"....

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http://industry.bnet.com/government/100 ... ll;content

[tva2]

...."Editorial: Tanker deck is stacked to favor Boeing"....

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http://blog.al.com/press-register-comme ... st_62.html




...."Shelby: Blocking nominees part of life"....

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http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/02/26/ ... /?hpt=Sbin



...."Will Northrop Grumman bid on tanker?"....

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http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/195938.asp




...."Why Northrop Grumman and EADS might just yet bid on the KC-X"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Hasik Analytic LLC

http://www.jameshasik.com/weblog/2010/0 ... -kc-x.html

[tva2]

...."Albaugh: Boeing's 'first preference' is to build planes in Puget Sound region"....

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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/b ... ugh02.html

[tva2]

...."Northrop says it's nearing decision on tanker bid"....

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http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0216439820100302




...."EADS Wants To Bid On Tanker"....

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http://www.wkrg.com/alabama/article/sou ... 0_6-09-pm/

[tva2]

...."New Northrop CEO Dives Into Tanker Bid Debate "....

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... _whatsNews



...."Boeing: New Air Force Tanker Offering By May "....

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http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-201 ... theadlines

[tva2]

...."Boeing will bid 767-based tanker"....

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http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/196546.asp


...."Boeing reveals NewGen Tanker for KC-X contract "....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Reed Business Information, courtesy Flightglobal.com / Stephen Trimble

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... tract.html


...."Boeing's NewGen 767 tanker to feature 787-style flight deck"....

Info credit & copyright © 2010 Reed Business Information, courtesy Flightglobal.com / Jon Ostrower

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/fligh ... -to-f.html

[tva2]

...."Boeing Selects Pratt & Whitney to Power Boeing's Proposed NewGen Tanker to be Offered to U.S. Air Force"....

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http://www.pw.utc.com/vgn-ext-templatin ... 01000aRCRD

[jurgen]

http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/page ... l?d=186116" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 8, 2010 - The following is a statement from Wes Bush, Chief Executive Officer and President of Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), concerning the U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tanker program.

"After a comprehensive analysis of the final RFP, Northrop Grumman has determined that it will not submit a bid to the Department of Defense for the KC-X program. We reached this conclusion based on the structure of the source selection methodology defined in the RFP, which clearly favors Boeing's smaller refueling tanker and does not provide adequate value recognition of the added capability of a larger tanker, precluding us from any competitive opportunity.

"Northrop Grumman fully respects the Department's responsibility to determine the military requirements for the new tanker. In the previous competition, Northrop Grumman was selected by the Air Force as offering the most capable tanker for the warfighter at the best value for the taxpayer. However, the Northrop Grumman and EADS team is very disappointed that the revised source selection methodology now dramatically favors Boeing's smaller refueling tanker. We agree that the fundamental military requirements for the new tanker have not changed since the last competition, but the Department's new evaluation methodology now clearly favors the smaller tanker.

"We continue to believe that Northrop Grumman's tanker represents the best value for the military and taxpayer – a belief supported by the selection of the A330 tanker design over the Boeing design in the last five consecutive tanker competitions around the globe. Regrettably, this means that the U.S. Air Force will be operating a less capable tanker than many of our Allies in this vital mission area.

"Our prior selection by the Air Force, our firm belief that we provide the best value offering, and the hard work and commitment of the many individuals and communities on our team over many years made this a difficult decision for our company. But we have a fiduciary responsibility to our shareholders to prudently invest our corporate resources, as do our more than 200 tanker team suppliers across the United States. Investing further resources to submit a bid would not be acting responsibly.

"We have decided that Northrop Grumman will not protest. While we feel we have substantial grounds to support a GAO or court ruling to overturn this revised source selection process, America's service men and women have been forced to wait too long for new tankers. We feel a deep responsibility to their safety and to their ability to fulfill the missions our nation calls upon them to perform. Taking actions that would further delay the introduction of this urgent capability would also not be acting responsibly.

"We recognize that our decision likely creates a sole-source outcome for Boeing. We call on the Department to keep in mind the economic conclusions of the prior round of bidding as it takes actions to protect the taxpayer when defining the sole-source procurement contract. In the previous round, the Air Force, through a rigorous assessment of our proposal, determined that it would pay a unit flyaway cost of approximately $184 million per tanker for the first 68 tankers, including the non-recurring development costs. With the Department's decision to procure a much smaller, less capable design, the taxpayer should certainly expect the bill to be much less."

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.