EVERETT — When the Boeing Co. submits its bid for a $35 billion contract in May, the company will use its Everett-built 767 jet as the basis for the next generation of Air Force aerial refueling tankers.
Boeing confirmed Thursday its choice of the smaller 767 over its 777 jet, also built in Everett, for the heated Air Force competition with Northrop Grumman and EADS. A Boeing win would keep the 767 production line alive for nearly two decades. The Air Force, which released its final tanker requirements last week, expects to announce a winner later this year.
We intend to bid for the honor to work with our Air Force customer to replace the existing fleet of KC-135 aircraft with a new-generation, multi-role tanker in a fair and transparent acquisition process, said Dennis Muilenburg, president of Boeing’s defense, space and security division.
Boeing’s selection of the 767 as its tanker platform isn’t a surprise, given that most industry observers see the Air Forces rules as geared toward the smaller 767. In fact, the requirements seem to favor Boeing’s 767 so much that Northrop officials have yet to decide whether they will remain in the contest. Northrop teamed up with EADS, the parent company of Airbus, to devise its KC-30 tanker, based off an A330 jet. Northrop and EADS would assemble their tanker in Mobile, Ala.
Supporters of Northrop have been lobbying the Obama administration to buy both Boeing and Northrop tankers. But Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rejected the notion of a dual buy. Northrop is not expected to announce this week whether it will submit a bid.
Boeing is calling its 767 the NewGen Tanker, noting its tanker meets all of the Air Forces requirements. Boeing says its 767 tanker will offer a digital flight deck similar to the one its using for the 787 Dreamliner commercial jet. After announcing the selection of the 767 as Boeing’s tanker, both the company and its supporters touted the company’s lengthy history of building Air Force tankers.
Boeings NewGen tanker is better for America’s warfighters, taxpayers and economy, and should be the obvious choice for the U.S. Air Force, said Tom Wroblewski, president of the local Machinists union. It’s also the common-sense solution, because the planes would be built in existing factories by our highly skilled and experienced union workers.
Boeing has built 767-based tankers for Italy and Japan. The company offered the Air Force a 767-based tanker during the Air Force’s last attempt at replacing its aging KC-135 fleet. The Air Force picked Northrop’s KC-30 but halted the contract when government auditors found flaws in the competition. Boeing’s offering then pieced together several of its 767 models. This tanker is expected to be a simplified version, which reduces risk in the Air Force’s eyes.
The 767 tanker will save the Air Force roughly $10 billion in fuel over 40 years compared with Northrop’s larger tanker, Boeing said Thursday. The company also believes its tanker will support more American jobs than will Northrop’s tanker.
Boeing’s 767 tanker certainly supports more jobs in Everett, which is welcome news to Mayor Ray Stephanson.
The 767 is a proven plane, ready to be built immediately by our experienced work force, Stephanson said.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., recently confirmed in a conversation with Boeing CEO Jim McNerney that the company does not plan to move tanker work from Everett to South Carolina, where it is opening an assembly line for its new 787 Dreamliner. Murray said she asked McNerney several times and got back the same answer: Yes, the tanker will be built in Everett.
Boeing’s stock, which was upgraded by UBS on Thursday, increased $1.10 to close at $65.55.
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