Tanker RFI 'very, very near,' Air Force leaders say

Posted on: Mar. 30th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

Tanker RFI 'very, very near,' Air Force leaders say

Leading Air Force officials told senators March 29 that they expect to get permission from the Pentagon's acquisition chief to issue a request for information for aerial refueling tankers "in the very, very near future," which will be followed by a request for proposals in September.

Secretary Michael Wynne and Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force chief of staff, told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee that because the leading contenders - the Boeing Co. and EADS - already field base aircraft, the Air Force expects first delivery within 24-36 months after the award (DAILY, March 2). The program would buy 15-20 tankers annually, they said.

Because swapping the fleet of new tankers with existing KC-135Rs will take about three decades, meaning some R variants will have to be sustained that long, the Air Force is eager to retire KC-135Es and move those crews into KC-135Rs. But to do so, the Air Force needs legislative relief to retire its 114 KC-135Es, of which 29 are already restricted from flight to some degree.

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