Rumsfeld says RFP for replacement of tanker fleet should be out by Jan. '07

Posted on: May. 19th, 2006 || Source: aimpoints.hq.af.mil | E-mail Article | Print Article

Rumsfeld says RFP for replacement of tanker fleet should be out by Jan. '07

A final request for proposals (RFP) to replace the U.S. Air Force's aging KC-135 tanker fleet should be out in January 2007, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said May 17.

"The draft request for proposals is expected to be out in September of this year and it should, if things work out properly, end up with a formal request for proposals by January of '07," Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee.

An analysis of alternatives by the RAND Corp. earlier this year (DAILY, March 8) recommended replacing the air refueling tankers with a derivative of existing commercial jetliners.

The 3,000-page study, an unclassified summary of which was made public, found the most cost-effective tanker replacement would be a fleet of new commercial-derivative aircraft with a gross takeoff weight between 300,000 pounds and 1 million pounds. Tankers based on the Airbus 330 or 340, as well as Boeing's 767, 787, 777 and 747, could fit the bill. The report said "there is no reason to exclude" an Airbus-Boeing "mixed buy."

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