Wire: US Air Force to Replace Aging Tankers

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2009 -- Newswire services this evening reported that Pentagon officials told lawmakers at a briefing on Capitol Hill Thursday that the Air Force on Friday will re-launch the on-again, off-again program to buy a new fleet of aerial refueling tankers to replace an aging fleet from the Eisenhower era.

The Politico politics blog said the officials declared the new process would not be "a re-run" of the past two tanker bidding contests, which were plagued with problems, but instead would be a "crystal clear" competition.

The basic outline of the contract has not changed since the last acrimonious attempt to buy tankers ended in the summer of 2008. The Air Force is looking to award a contract for 179 planes, to be delivered at a rate of 15 per year. The award, to be announced by mid-2010, will be the first of three contracts to eventually replace the services entire 513-plane fleet of KC-135, air-to-air refueling aircraft.

See link below for details.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: Air force to replace aging tankers