What Happened in the KC-X Tanker Saga

I have blogged before about the long drawn-out saga of KC-X, the USAF program [sic] to replace the ageing fleet of KC-135 aerial refuelling tankers (see USAF selects Boeing for KC-X contract and Aussies Steal a March on the USAF ). 

Now the evergreen and delightful Popular Mechanics provides a chronology of the tortured process U.S. Air Force Tanker - Boeing Governent Contract - Popular Mechanics

Well worth reading to find out how not to do it, how Boeing eventually won and how one person can be a national hero or a right pain in the butt depending on where you stand.

USAF selects Boeing for KC-X contract

Flight International posts the result: [UPDATED]: USAF selects Boeing for KC-X contract

Those of you with good memories will recall that in my post Aussies Steal a March on the USAF I bemoaned the fact that the USAF couldn’t seem to make up its mind on who should get the KC-X contract.

Well now it has and, surprise surprise, its Boeing with a modified B767 to enter service as the KC-46A, mostly because it was cheaper than the EADS A330 offering and has a lower T/O weight (see the main article for details).

The contract is worth $USD 35 billion and General Norton Schwartz the USAF Chief of Staff says “I’m pleased at how this produced an outcome … that we will get about delivering a capability that’s long overdue and we’ll stop talking about it.”

Meanwhile the RAAF is expecting delivery of its first Airbus A330 MRTT very soon.