Rand study puts tanker recap costs at $200B over 50 years

Posted on: Mar. 8th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A long-awaited Rand Corp. study on U.S. military tanker options says the Defense Department faces about $200 billion in costs to recapitalize its aging tanker fleet over the next half century.

The Defense Department released a 26-page executive summary of the nearly 2,000-page report Tuesday. The public version contained few surprises, since Pentagon officials have been publicly discussing the study's findings for months.

Medium to large commercial jets provide the most cost-effective basis for a fleet of replacement tankers, the study found. This category includes Boeing Co.'s (BA) 767, 787, 777 and 747 planes, along with the Airbus (ABI.YY) A330 and A340. The study didn't pick a favorite.

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