Posted on 02/24/2011 10:31:17 AM PST by pepperdog
No. 018-11 February 24, 2011
Air Force KC-X Tanker Contract Award to be Announced
Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics Ashton Carter, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will announce the KC-X tanker contract award at 5:10 p.m. EST, Feb. 24, in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973).
Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the River Entrance only. Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification. Please call 703-697-5131 for escort into the building.
This news conference will also stream live on the Pentagon Channel website, http://www.pentagonchannel.mil, and a transcript will be posted at http://www.defense.gov/transcripts.
hoping we buy the American plane instead of the French one,,,
Lawsuit protesting the award to be filed at 5:15 p.m. EST.
It will be built in Alabama not France. Last time I checked, Alabama was in the USA. Not too sure about Everett WA.
How many tankers will be purchased?
bookmark for later read
Everett is indeed part of the US. Barely.
Edmonds and Mukilteo are nice areas, Everett, not so much.
Mumbai and Bangalore.
Not sure, around 180 was what I heard. But that may be a very old figure. The AF has a history of starting out with a big buy, but it sometimes quickly deflates, i.e., the B-2 ended up with somewhere around 20 something aircraft when it was going to be 100+ at one time. Of course that reduction had a VERY adverse effect on the per aircraft cost. So now they cost somewhere north of two billion.
You have some good questions, but they should be directed at Boeing also. Where are parts made? For Boeing, China and a whole lot of other countries. Where are the Design Engineers? That is already completed. The only difference here is where are the corporate Headquarters. One is in Chicago and the other is in Europe. The impact on the US economy is the same no matter who wins.
hoping we buy the American plane instead of the French one,,,
So the Boeing one will be built more in the USA than EADS? I don’t think so.
Also, I hope the unions get slapped in the face today. They don’t work and all they do is whine.
Fine, but where are the design engineers? Where do the profits end up? Where are the parts made?
Fine, but where are the design engineers?
Most in Mobile, AL right now and in North Carolina.
Where do the profits end up?
Boeing has been cheating taxpayers for years. Time for the taxpayers to win.
Where are the parts made?
Like Boeing, most will be made in USA. GE making most of them.
Thougths (in no particular order):
1. The USAF should choose the aircraft that will best meet their needs.
2. The USAF has no rigorous method for determining which aircraft that will best meet their needs.
3. This is not a jobs program.
4. The process has a tainted history of fraud on the part of contractors and sloppiness on the part of the USAF\government which will continue to haunt every decision forward.
5. Whoever looses, will appeal.
6. The USAF desperately needs new tankers.
I hate to be the pessimist here, but I gotta think that with a pro-union White House and a Red State/Blue state competition, I would expect that Boeing gets this. Alabama should be the slam-dunk winner here, but I’ll be surprised if it comes out that way.
There's more to this than who "best" meets the specification.
Anyone who believes there is a substantial difference between a Boeing plane and an Airbus plane is smoking crack and delusional.
Airbus got all their stuff from US innovators over decades. Very little REAL R&D occurs at Airbus...yes, the fancy things up...improve various elements here and there. But they essentially copy US Designs.
Thought
1a. And ensure the contractor they select will provide sufficient engineering data, provisioning, training, etc. so the aircraft can be totally supported by military/civilian personnel working for the DOD in the USA and overseas and spares can be procured from the most economical sources. Buying the aircraft is not the only thing, maintaining is quite something else.
Question 3a...why, if the taxpayers are footing the bill shouldn’t they get the jobs?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.