Pentagon may buy 15-20 aerial tankers a year

Posted on: May. 10th, 2006 || Source: today.reuters.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

Pentagon may buy 15-20 aerial tankers a year

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department tentatively plans to buy 15 to 20 aerial refueling tankers a year over two decades, possibly from more than one manufacturer, the Pentagon's top acquisition official said on Tuesday.

The comments by Kenneth Krieg, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, suggest the likely scope of a high-profile competition expected to pit Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research) against a team made up of Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), 80 percent owner of European jetmaker Airbus.

"I think the program concept that's sort of evolving is something around 15 to 20 of them a year," Krieg said in an interview with Reuters.

Last month, the Pentagon launched the contest with a request for information from companies that want to build the next-generation tanker, which could be derived from the Boeing 767, the Airbus A-330 or another medium to heavy airliner.

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