'Bizarre' tanker twist: Russians will bid against Boeing for Air Force contract

Seattle Times ^ | 3/18/2010 | By Rami Grunbaum

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Here's the latest twist in the Air Force tanker saga: The Russians are coming.

Russia's government-owned aerospace company will announce Monday it is competing against Boeing for the $40 billion refueling-tanker contract, a Los Angeles attorney for the company said Friday.

United Aircraft of Moscow plans to unveil a U.S. partner and offer a modified version of its Ilyushin Il-96 wide-body plane, said John Kirkland, a Los Angeles lawyer representing the group.

The still-unidentified partner, "a U.S. public company and existing defense contractor," would assemble the planes in the U.S., he said. The Russian interest in the tanker bid was first reported Friday by The Wall Street Journal.

United Aircraft was formed under the authority of then-President Vladimir Putin in 2006 to combine the most famous names in Russian aviation: Sukhoi, Tupolev, Ilyushin, MiG.

Kirkland acknowledged it faces "significant hurdles ... there are obvious security issues, there are sanctions and restrictions on buying things from Russia."

[Oztrich Boy]

Would it be as good as the French Plane?

Maybe not. But under the new "let Boeing win" rules it doesn't matter. as there's no bid advantage in being better than minimum - cheapest wins.

Unintended consequences

[Mister Muggles]

I think you give them more credit than they are due. I don’t think Congress has the habit of awarding such contracts on the basis of cost effectiveness or practicality....they dont for anything else, so they wont for THIS.