Boeing, Northrop gird for next round of "tanker hell"

Its becoming increasingly clear that to avoid any sort of appeal and litigation by the losing side, a split buy would have to occur.

Gates has come out against such a contract so here we go again.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Within weeks, the U.S. Air Force will launch a third attempt in eight years to replace its aging fleet of KC-135 aerial tankers and the new competition promises to be even more contentious than the last.

Both Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and Boeing Co (BA.N) have teams of lawyers and acquisition experts standing by, ready to scrutinize every word of the draft request for proposals (RFP) and pounce on any sign that the terms are biased toward one of the two competitors.
www.reuters.com...

The RAF signed a deal in march 2008 for new tankers - the first of which flew last week - will be in for tanker converstion later this year and be delivered and in servicve next year


HELLO

why the hell is the USAF so caught up in red tape ?? its a disgrace for the aircrew that have to suffer the equipment they have.