Hobart Machined Products Inc.

• Manufacturing
• Aviation
• Education
• Foundations
• General Aviation
• Woman Owned Business
• Contact
• Rocket Racing League
• Site Map

• Company Overview
• Associations
• Customer Service
• Alliances
• Archives
• Economic
• Law And Policy

• Services
• Platforms

• News
• Awards
• Press Releases
• Tanker
• Space
• International
• Defense News
• Airlines
• FAA
• Sea Launch
• Boeing 757
• Boeing 767
• Boeing 777
• Boeing 787
• Newsletters
• Aerospace Layoffs
• Trade

• Events
• Current Events
• Air Shows

• Farnborough Air Show

• Assembly Pics
• More Of Our Work

Boeing, Airbus Prepare For Tanker Bid

The New York Times (6/17, B5, Brothers) reports, "Boeing said on Tuesday that it was prepared to go head to head with its European rival, EADS, to win a bitterly contested $35 billion contract from the Air Force by converting its 777 passenger plane - a bigger aircraft than Airbus is offering - into a refueling tanker." Executives from the two companies say that "the Department of Denfense is expected to release soon a preliminary request for proposals." This "will be the third effort in a decade to replace the Air Force's aging tanker fleet." According to the Times, "no military contact has stirred as much rancor between Boeing and Airbus as the refueling tanker."

According to Bloomberg News (6/17, Ray), "Boeing Co. said it would face a 'challenge' in delivering a larger aerial-refueling tanker to the U.S. Air Force on the same scheadule as the competing bid based on an Airbus SAS A330 because the company's 777 has yet to be developed for military use." The plane maker "hasn't refueling booms or pods or performed wind-tunnel testing specifically for a 777 offering as it has for the 767," according to Dave Bowman, vice president and general manager of tanker programs for Boeing." In "a briefing at the Paris Air Show, " he said that "still, much of the design work done for the previous 767 bid could be applied to the 777."

Dow Jones Newswires (6/17, Keeton) quotes Bowman as saying that Boeing "has a wide range of options available for building a new aerial refueling tanker for the U.S. Air Force, but will wait to see a draft request for proposal - expected from the military in a few weeks - before discussing specifics."

Meanwhile, "to win the contest to replace America's ageing fleet of air tankers, Northrop Grumman and its European partner EADS will have to convince goverment officals that they are no more foregin than their US rival Boeing," notes the Financial Times (6/17, Lemer). Ron Sugar, Northrop's CEO, said that "the contest was not between US and foreign teams," but "between two international teams," and argued "that Boeing, like EADS and Northrop will manufacture part of their aircraft partially in the US and partially abroad." Sugar's comments were made "on the sidelines of the Paris air show."

BBC News (6/17, Madslien), Reuters (6/17, Shalal-Esa), and Alabama's Press-Register (6/16, Talbot) also reported the story.

Airbus, Boeing Consider Dueling Engine Technologies For Next Generation Jetliners. Flight Daily News (6/16, Pilling) reported that "Airbus and Boeing have a big dilemma on which engine technology they should select for the new aircraft generation to replace the best-selling A320 and 737 families: advanced but 'conventional' turbofans or the futuristic-looking open rotor?" The article noted that "the problem for Airbus and Boeing is that some airlines are demanding a new narrowbody choice with radically improved economics sooner rather than later." Engine-maker "CFM says it will be ready with its all-new Leap-X engine in 2016," which "will offer up to 16% better fuel burn and 50-60% lower NOx emissions compared with today's best CFM56s." However, "open rotor technology could offer a lot more. Fuel burn could be 26% better with NOx levels similar to Leap-X, although a CFM open rotor engine could not enter service until late into the next decade."