Tanker Wars – Part VII

More Tanker action, these guys are getting more action than Abrams in the AF!!

First we have statements from the DOD stating that changes to the Air Force Draft RFP are not out of the question and could be done in preparation of the final version. This assuages the NGS/EADS-Airbus team as they are hopeful for changes to make the competition more "fair", to them of course. A DOD representative, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be leaking this info in the first place, claimed that DOD "will make changes as is appropriate". Double speak for "in a pig's eye" we will be making changes. They also claimed that a split tanker buy was not being contemplated, meaning that no one is considering buying a few tankers from both manufacturers.

Now this: Split Tanker Buy gains momentum. Yeah, as fast as paint dry's we have this report about the growing support for a split purchase. Congressional support for this option is gaining support because well simply put it buys the most votes! You see when you are a member of Congress and you see this $179 Billion dollars you simply want to buy the most votes you can so, the best way to do that is to spread those bucks around. Left up to Congress that is what would happen. God save us.

And finally we have another group of U.S. Lawmakers that want NGS/EADS-Airbus banned from the competition altogether. The reason, the favorable ruling from the World Trade Organization that ruled Airbus has taken illegal subsides from their partner governments giving Airbus a competitive advantage over their rivals. The Air Force has steadfastly held that they will not factor into their deliberations the WTO ruling despite repeated complaints from Boeing that the base cost of the A330 airframe was under value because of these illegal subsides.

It don't get better than this, we should let the two companies fight it out the old fashion way, fist to cuff's! Winner takes all!

More to come I am sure.

BT: Jimmy T sends.