Free Republic

Russia’s United Aircraft Corp. isn’t planning to bid for the Pentagon’s $35 billion Air Force aerial-refueling tanker program, Chief Executive Officer Alexei Fyodorov said, contradicting U.S. media reports. The Wall Street Journal reported March 19 that United Aircraft, the maker of Ilyushin transport planes, was preparing a bid to be announced as early as today. The Washington Post also wrote about the plan on March 20. Both media reports cited John Kirkland, an attorney at Luce Forward in Los Angeles who said a venture would be announced between United Aircraft and a small, unidentified U.S. defense contractor on March 22...

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...

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-96 wide-body plane, John Kirkland, head of the corporate securities practice at Luce Forward, said in an interview. 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...