The kc-x program

The conferees expected that the assessment would be made by an entity outside of the Department of Defense DOD , and should include the following data and analysis for KCE and KCR aircraft for each year from fiscal year through fiscal year 1 trend analysis for operational readiness; 2 trend analysis for organizational and depot-level maintenance manhours, with specific breakout of corrosion control and prevention manhours; 3 numbers of aircraft grounded due to corrosion and length of time each aircraft was grounded; 4 itemization of improved corrosion control processes which resulted in decreased manhours for corrosion control and treatment; 5 analysis of the relationship between manhours for corrosion repair and improved processes; and 6 analysis of major structural repairs required due to corrosion.

Section of H. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year as cleared by the Congress on October 9, would modify the authority provided in current law which allows the Air Force to acquire KC tankers through a hybrid acquisition strategy to "lease" no more than 20 tanker aircraft and purchase as many as 80 additional aircraft under multiyear procurement authority.

In late a "split-buy" replacement strategy was being debated as the best policy to replace our aging aerial refueling tanker fleet. Under the "split-buy" proposal, the Air Force and the Department of Defense would simultaneously develop, test and procure two tanker aircraft.

Proponents assert that this policy would reduce costs through enhanced competition and expand operational flexibility to the Air Force. Under this proposal, the Air Force would be forced to coordinate the utilization of a fleet of tankers with vastly different capabilities, operational requirements and infrastructure needs. Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute, states that "Sustaining two different lines.

The study used published data to calculate the fuel consumption of flying a fleet of ER and Airbus A aircraft over a year service life. The Air Force's Request for Proposal called for a highly capable, medium-sized, low-risk and low-cost refueling tanker to replace its aging fleet of KC tankers. That means that the KC can meet the same refueling requirements flying 20 percent fewer hours.

The KC's smaller footprint allows more tankers in fewer bases, and puts more booms in the sky allowing fighter strike packages to meet demanding targeting requirements.

On 10 March Josh Rogin, CQ Staff writer reported that the the Office of Management and Budget given the Pentagon guidance to delay procurement of aerial refueling tankers by five years and cancel plans for a new long-range bomber.

Subscribe Now! Sign In Sign Out. Proposals would be due in October and selection was to be done by the end of The DoD canceled the request for proposals and delayed the decision on when to issue another request until the new presidential administration was in office. The selection process will be under the Air Force with a "robust oversight role" by the Office of the Secretary of Defense OSD to prevent a repeated failure. A contract award was expected in summer On 8 March , Northrop Grumman followed through with their earlier threat and decided to not submit a bid for the KC-X tanker stating that they believe the new evaluation methodology favors Boeing's smaller tanker.

On 1 July , a surprise third bidder, consisting of the team of US Aerospace and the Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov announced its intention to bid in the competition. The two firms announced that they would be interested in supplying up to three types of aircraft to the United States Air Force. The types reportedly being offered are the four-engined An and a twin-engined variant of the aircraft, the An The third aircraft to be offered is known as the An This tanker was proposed in the team's bid.

US Aerospace filed separate protests with the U. Air Force proceeded with source selection while GAO investigated. In November , the USAF mistakenly sent technical reviews of the other side's bids to each of the two remaining teams. The tanker will be named the KCA. Thompson of the Lexington Institute agreed that Boeing's bid was very aggressive due to the Air Force's fixed-price contract strategy.

There were three different bids proposed in July Specifications of these aircraft, as well as the aircraft intended to be replaced, the KC, are listed in the table below. Military Wiki Explore. Popular pages. Grant Richard Winters Harry Welsh. Project maintenance. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Edit source History Talk 0. Project for Aerial refueling tanker aircraft - -! Issued by United States Air Force - - - - -! The Washington Post.

Retrieved United States Department of Defense. Seattle Times. Government Accountability Office. Archived from the original on Kepplinger, General Counsel June 18, US DoD, 9 July US DoD, 10 September Flight International , 9 March Military-Aerospace Technology Magazine; volume: 1, issue: 2, 1 May Air Force magazine, February , Vol. Government Executive, October 1, Business Week Online, December 15, CBS, 5 January US Department of Justice, 30 June AirForceTimes, 24 February Northrop Grumman.

Air Force". The Seattle Times. ABC News, 20 September US Air Force, 3 March