Update, 0930 PST: DOD has confirmed, the award will be announced at 5:10 PM EST and broadcast on The Pentagon Channel.
Original Post:
The Pentagon Channel will provide coverage, if the past is followed today. The time is 5pm EST. Update: A Tweet from AvTips says 4:45pm, without citing sources, so we suggest having everything ready by that time.
You can bet the media in Mobile (AL), Wichita (KS) and Seattle (WA) will also provide breaking news coverage. We know for sure that KIRO-TV plans to do so. We expect Twitter members will be ready to go, include Reuters Aerospace coverage.
It now appears the USAF will announce the tanker contract Thursday, Feb. 24, at 5pm EST. Expectations are that EADS will be awarded the contract, but there have been so many twists and turns that we’re not predicting the outcome.
The greater question will be, Will there be a protest? As we reported Monday, EADS says it won’t protest if it loses provided there is nothing egregious in the selection process. Boeing has clearly been laying the groundwork for a protest, but neither is it certain Boeing will do so if it loses.
Here is the timeline of what happens next:
With the expectation that the USAF is going to announce its tanker award this week, we’re going to forego our Odds and Ends kick-off and deal with the tanker.
We’re going to try and synopsize many of the issues that are “out there” in cyber-land, to try and make some sense out of what sometimes seems to be a senseless process.
In no particular order, here we go:
As Washington (DC) buzzes with the prospect that the Department of Defense will, at long last, announce its award for the KC-X contract before the end of this month, EADS held a press briefing February 16 to lay out its views one last time that its airplane is the best choice for the job.
Boeing made calls to editorial boards last week to make its case.
The process has dragged on so long that we couldn’t help but think of the photo below, purported to be the first air-to-air refueling.
Source: LaGuardia Airport historical photo.
Two top Defense Department officials today (Feb. 16) told a conference sponsored by Aviation Week magazine that the contract award for the KC-X could be made by the end of the month.
The buzz in Washington is that it will be after the stock market closed on Friday, Feb. 25.
The statements by the DOD officials are summed up nicely in this Defense News article.
At the same Aviation Week conference, the Pentagon’s top buyer, Ashton Carter, repeated remarks he made a week earlier at the Cowen & Co. aerospace and defense investors’ conference February 9. At the Cowen event, the headlines to come out of it were remarks made by Boeing CEO Jim McNerney about the prospect of proceeding with an all-new replacement for the 737.
The headline that did not come out of it was from a speech presented by the Pentagon’s top buyer, Ashton Carter. Elements of his speech did, indeed, make news. However, buried in his speech as the last topic were his comments about globalization and procuring key defense systems from non-US companies.
Is this laying the groundwork for selecting the EADS North America KC-45 tanker in the KC-X competition? DOD Buzz picked up on this, too, but well down its story.
Perhaps this is too much “Kremlinology” but carefully read his remarks:
Update, Feb. 15: at the request of the magazine, we have delinked the article.
Here is a synopsis; the magazine reports:
Original Post:
Australian Aviation has a five page profile on the delays to the RAAF KC-30A, including last December’s boom failure.
The PDF may be downloaded here: RAAF KC-30A Delays
We posted an item Friday that normally would have waited until this edition of Odds and Ends, but the news that John Leahy might leave Airbus next year couldn’t wait. Aviation Week broke the story.
But we spoke with Airbus Toulouse Sunday and the company denied the story.
Boeing rolled out the first 747-8I Sunday (Feb. 13) in pomp and ceremonies that were foregone with the rollout a few years ago of the freighter version.
Here is some of the news coverage:
At a major press event Saturday, attended by some 80 global print and broadcast media, officials touted the 747’s fuel efficiencies compared with previous 747 models and, of course, against the Airbus A380. Airbus and Boeing have been having a running battle for years over which airplane is more efficient; Aubrey Cohen of The Seattle PI discusses this in his article above, which includes a link to a piece we did a year ago citing Lufthansa and Emirates figures which favored Airbus.
This is too good to hold for our Odds-and-Ends Monday. Aviation Week reports John Leahy may leave Airbus next year.
Update, Feb. 13: The link is dead but here is the relevant portion of the article; the cached version is here:
Day 2 of the PNAA conference: Richard Aboulafia, consultant of The Teal Group, said that a split buy is the only way the USAF will be able to procure the KC-X tanker.
Aboulafia said the decision no longer effectively rests with the Air Force, but with Congress. Each political party has the ability to block a sole-source selection, Aboulafia says.
Other thoughts from Aboulafia: