TANKER USAF - Appels d'offres

WASHINGTON, April 14

Further Delays Put Our War fighters in Jeopardy

WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --

Twelve members of the National Defense Trust (NDT) today sent a letter to President Barack Obama expressing concern over the ongoing delays and political maneuvering preventing the Air Force from awarding the contract to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers.

The letter was signed by retired military officers, leaders of think tanks focusing on national defense, and a former US Senator. A copy of the letter was sent to every Member of Congress.

The current fleet of refueling tankers is five decades old and have been in service since the Korean War.

Efforts to build new planes that support military aircraft has been ongoing for nearly a decade and the contracts have been canceled due to controversy and scandal.

The latest Request for Proposal was released several months ago with one of the bidders, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), withdrawing from the competition.

However, after pressure from EADS and the government of France, the Pentagon extended the deadline for two months.

The National Defense Trust's members believe it is critical that the delays, particularly those that are politically motivated, cease, allowing the military to focus on procuring the planes needed for a strong national defense.
As a result of the most recent delay in the process, NDT members have sent this letter to Commander in Chief Obama and Members of Congress.

The letter reads in part:

Delays often beget delays. Our war fighters deserve new tankers delivered as quickly as possible, and we see no valid reason to postpone the tanker acquisition process any longer.
We urge you to resist further efforts to stall the long-overdue process of procuring and building the next fleet of refueling tankers our men and women in uniform need and deserve.

The National Defense Trust is a coalition of Americans dedicated to a robust defense of the United States and our allies.

SOURCE National Defense Trust

WASHINGTON, 15 avril (Reuters) -

EADS s'efforce de conclure rapidement un accord avec une entreprise américaine, L-3 Communications ayant renoncé à
s'associer à sa candidature pour le contrat des avions ravitailleurs de l'US Air Force, a-t-on appris de sources proches du dossier jeudi...

Reuters: EADS will bid on tanker without U.S. partner
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will bid on the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] contract without a U.S. partner, Reuters [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Monday, citing unnamed sources.
Airbus parent EADS has been considering its own bid and looking for a new partner since former tanker partner Northrop Grumman [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] of the contest last month. On March 31, the Pentagon announced it would delay the tanker bid deadline by 60 days if EADS gave formal notice of its intention to make an offer.
Recent reports had singled out L-3 Communications as the most-likely EADS partner. But Reuters [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] last week that L-3 was backing away from the contest in the face of political pressure.
Sources told Reuters that they expected EADS to make an announcement as soon as Tuesday.

JPRS a écrit:Question pour Sévrien ?

L'accord avec NG est au tapis, c'est vu !

L'accord avec GE tient il toujours !

JPRS a écrit:La perche de ravitaillement a été developpée spécifiquement je crois (Avec NG ??), je suppose que cela reste sur les rails ??

JPRS a écrit:RR pourrait il s'intégrer en faisant l'effort de prix nécessaire (Avec EADS) pour avoir une chance concernant les prix ... et M... pour l'intégration de composants US à tout prix !

JPRS a écrit:Vu que politiquement les chances sont = à 0, seuls les prix peuvent sauver EADS, s'ils y vont ...

Joss a écrit:A mon humble avis, c'est bien la démarche d'EADS : que Boeing baisse ses prix

Arlington, Virginia, April 20, 2010 –

EADS North America announced today that it intends to submit a proposal on July 9, 2010 for the U.S. Air Force’s tanker modernization program and will offer the KC-45 – the most capable, American-built solution that is flown, proven and in production now.

EADS North America is progressing in discussions with potential U.S. partners to build a winning team in order to provide the most capable, best value solution to the Air Force.

The KC-45 is the only aircraft flying today that meets the U.S. Air Force’s tanker requirements as outlined in its KC-X Request for Proposal (RFP).

The KC-45 builds on the EADS-based tanker that was previously selected in 2008 by the Department of Defense and that has won the last five consecutive tanker competitions worldwide.

“We will offer a modern, more capable tanker in response to the Defense Department’s decision to encourage competition for this major taxpayer investment,” said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr.

“Our KC-45 is the only real, flying, low-risk solution that today meets the demanding Air Force air refueling requirements and is actually in production now.
That fact is critical because our warfighters deserve a true best value solution.”

EADS North America will build and modify the KC-45, along with A330 commercial freighters, at an EADS North America/Airbus production facility to be constructed in Mobile, Alabama.

The KC-45 program and aircraft production/modification center will create and support tens of thousands of high-value American jobs while making a long-term investment in the nation’s economy at a time when other aerospace companies are outsourcing production overseas.

“This tanker competition is all about the warfighter and the aircraft that most successfully meets their requirements.

The KC-45 offers what the Air Force needs today: a modern military tanker that is in production now with deliveries beginning this year,” said Sean O’Keefe, EADS North America Chief Executive Officer.

“Not only does the KC-45 offer the best value and a huge capability advantage over the competition, it also will support tens of thousands of jobs across America by expanding our nation’s industrial aerospace capacity.”

The KC-45 is the U.S. military version of the proven A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT).

To date 28 aircraft have been ordered by four U.S. allies. The MRTT has transferred more than 265,000 lbs. of fuel to a range of military aircraft – from F-16 and F/A-18 fighters to the E-3 AWACS – using the same refueling systems offered on the KC-45.

“Our aircraft has demonstrated its unparalleled capability by refueling a variety of military aircraft utilizing both boom and hose and drogue systems, as well as by operating in the receiving position.

That’s a statement our competition can’t make,” said Crosby.

The Royal Australian Air Force will receive the first A330 MRTTs later this year. Additional aircraft are in production or
undergoing mission-equipment outfitting for the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

“We’re progressing forward in discussions to expand the ranks of our nearly 200 current U.S. suppliers, some of which are joining us for today’s announcement,” continued O’Keefe.

At the heart of the KC-45 is the most capable aerial refueling system operating today.

The aircraft’s fly-by-wire Aerial Refueling Boom System (ARBS) has a demonstrated fuel offload rate of 1,200 U.S. gallons per minute – the only system which meets the U.S. Air Force’s requirements without further modification.

The system’s proven all-electric fly-by-wire technology ensures enhanced controllability and safety that greatly aids the boom operator and receiver aircraft's pilot.

La filiale nord-américaine du consortium aéronautique européen EADS a annoncé vendredi l'entrée à son conseil d'administration d'un général venant de prendre sa retraite de l'armée de l'Air américaine, en pleine
compétition pour la fourniture d'avions ravitailleurs.

"L'expérience du général Arthur Lichte à des postes de commandement (...) ainsi qu'aux fonctions de chef du Commandement de la mobilité aérienne nous apportera un point de vue précieux", a souligné le président du conseil
d'administration de EADS North America, Ralph Crosby, cité dans un communiqué.

Le général Lichte a pris sa retraite le 1er janvier 2010 après une carrière de 38 ans dans l'armée de l'Air.

Ce recrutement intervient alors qu'EADS a annoncé il y a trois jours que le groupe allait finalement soumettre une proposition à l'armée de l'Air en réponse à un appel d'offres pour la fourniture d'avions ravitailleurs, en dépit
du retrait de son principal partenaire, Northrop Grumman, de la compétition.

EADS est en concurrence pour ce contrat avec son grand rival américain Boeing.

Boeing, pour sa part, avait annoncé en octobre l'entrée à son conseil d'administration de l'amiral américain à la retraite Edmund Giambastiani, qui avait terminé sa carrière au rang d'adjoint du chef d'Etat-major inter-armées, de 2005 à 2007.

JPRS a écrit:Merci Questar !

Intéressante manœuvre de EADS US !
Probablement sur le long terme (Juste mon avis)
Un contrat biaisé de 40-50 Milliards de $ ne se gagne pas avec l'embauche d'un général !
Mais, cela peut disons "Fluidifier" à défaut de changer vraiment les données !
Et installer EADS, dans le système de lobbying du côté de l' USAF !

Ce ne sera pas une embauche inutile pour l'avenir !

JHPRS

The Air Force on Tuesday said it is not delaying its KC-X aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] contract, despite an Air Force Times [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
Air Force and Pentagon officials [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] the bid deadline 60 days to facilitate a bid from EADS North America, but said they would compress the review period to offset that delay. On Tuesday, the Air Force Times noted that, along with the extension of the bid deadline, the Air Force also revised the contract-award date.
The tanker request originally told bidders to prepare their proposals assuming a "contract award date" of Aug. 16, 2010. The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (open "Sect L Instruction to Offerors 22 Apr 10.pdf" and see paragraph 2.4 on page 1) replaces that with a "contract start date" of Nov. 12.
"(W)e are NOT delaying the award of the Tanker contract," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said Tuesday. "Our plan has always been to award the KC-X contract in the fall of 2010."
Aug. 16 never was the anticipated award date, Morrell added. "(T)he Air Force made a mistake. The term should have been contract start date not contract award date."
The date "is simply a tool in the evaluation process," he said. "It ensures that both contractors submit their bids and build their master schedules and plans on the same time basis. When the contract is actually awarded, which can be earlier or later than the planning start date, the plans and schedules are adjusted to reflect the actual date of the award. Using a planning date sometime in the fall rather than the summer makes the most sense, especially given that proposals are not now due until mid-July."
Asked what the point was of having a start date earlier than the anticipated award date in the first place, Morrell said: "What is important is that the bidders understand what date to use for the purposes of developing their plans and that they are both using the same start date."

Boeing pushing bill to link WTO ruling to tanker
Boeing's lead lobbyist is recruiting U.S. senators to back a planned bill to force the Pentagon to consider World Trade Organization decisions when deciding on defense contracts such as the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] request, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] reported Wednesday.
Aviation Week reported that Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., plans to introduce the bill in the Senate on Thursday, with Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., proposing the measure in the House.
A World Trade Organization panel reportedly ruled recently that European countries improperly [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Airbus programs, including the A330, which is the basis for EADS North America's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which is competing against Boeing's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. The ruling will remain confidential until official translations are released later this year.
Boeing and its supporters argue the subsidies allow EADS to offer its tanker at a cut-rate price. Pentagon officials have refused to consider the ruling, saying it has not finished working its way through the WTO process and a European counter-claim about U.S. aid to Boeing is pending.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., joined a rally in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to push the Pentagon to consider the ruling in the tanker competition. During a Monday [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in Mukilteo of the jobs Boeing's tanker would create in Washington State, Murray said: "I'm really hoping when the WTO decision becomes public and everybody will have a chance to read it, that the Pentagon and the White House will realize that awarding the contract to a company that is illegally subsidizing its planes puts our companies here in this country at a disadvantage and will change what they have been saying."

Boeing source: We may not bid for KC-X

Boeing is considering not bidding for the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contract, a company source said Friday.
That would leave Europe’s EADS — which earlier this year had threatened its own pullout — as the sole bidder for the multibillion-dollar prize.
CEO Jim McNerney and other executives are privately debating whether their company can even win, much less make a profit, on the fixed-price contract, one senior Boeing executive said.
“Is it conceivable that we wouldn’t bid?” the executive said. “We are proud of the fleet and want it to win the contract so the Air Force keeps flying our planes. Your heart says you have to be part of it, but a CEO’s job is to make sure that the heart doesn’t make a decision the head can’t live with.”
Boeing spokesman Damien Mills insisted May 13 that the firm will bid.
But Boeing supporters have long complained that illegal subsidies would lower EADS’ bid price, and company officials have said for several weeks that the Pentagon appears to have shifted requirements to favor the European firm.
Earlier this year, DoD officials — eager to avoid a sole-source award to Boeing in the wake of Northrop Grumman’s withdrawal — delayed the bidding deadline 60 days to allow EADS to bid. DoD also allowed the European firm to enter the contest without a U.S. firm as a partner.
Pentagon officials say they have changed neither the requirements nor the way the bids will be evaluated.
“Jim doesn’t want to be in a position that we are going to bid a losing bid,” the Boeing executive said. “It gets difficult when you’re dealing with a competitor who has flat-out said on several occasions that they’re going to underbid us. How can they do that if the list price of their plane is higher than the list on our plane? Because they are subsidized and we’re a for-profit company, so the question we’re asking is: How do we compete against four governments?”
The average cost of a Boeing 767-200ER is $133 million, of an Airbus A330-200F, $194.8 million, according to Teal Group aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.
The executive said Boeing has not arrived at a decision. He said raising the prospect of sitting out was not a negotiating tactic.
On May 13, Pentagon officials said that they have heard nothing from Boeing about leaving the competition.

Subsidy Scuffle
Boeing executives and its supporters say Airbus, which has garnered more than half of the commercial jet market in recent years, has been powered by tens of billions of dollars in subsidies over four decades. The World Trade Organization recently resolved a 2009 lawsuit filed by the U.S. government, finding Airbus guilty of using illegal subsidies to win contracts with predatory pricing. Europe has countersued, claiming Boeing benefits from research and development tax credits.
On May 13, two Republican lawmakers from Kansas, Sen. Sam Brownback and Rep. Todd Tiahrt, introduced legislation in the U.S. House and Senate that would order the Pentagon officials who will weigh the KC-X bids to factor in the startup subsidies EADS received for its A330. Tiahrt said he estimates the subsidies to be worth about $5 million per airplane.
The Pentagon says it will not take the WTO ruling into account because EADS plans to appeal, and waiting for the outcome could add yet more years of delay to the tanker effort.
Dubbing the proposed legislation “The Boeing Bill,” EADS spokesman Guy Hicks called it “one more attempt to avoid competing on the merits of the tanker.”
Analysts Respond
A financial analyst said a prudent Boeing would consider all options.
“If Boeing can’t make a fair return for their investment, then they shouldn’t do it,” said Ron Epstein of Banc of America. “Shareholders would rather see Boeing cover its cost of capital than win an unprofitable contract. If EADS is going to bid below their cost of capital to subsidize our military, great, they should do it.”
But Aboulafia is skeptical: “It would be a very bold move if true — possibly too bold.”
Analyst David Berteau of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said he doubts that Congress will be able to write effective legislation in time to affect the competition.
He also said Boeing’s threat is unlikely to sway Pentagon officials who have said that they “prefer a competition, but they’ll move forward with only one” bidder.