Talking tankers with Northrop Grumman

By Dorothy Ramienski
Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio

The Defense Department said in September that it will delay its decision on a $35 billion tanker contract to the next administration.

Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. have been fighting over the contract for years.

On Tuesday’s In Depth, host Francis Rose spoke with Randy Belote, corporate vice president of Strategic Communications at Northrup-Grumman, about KC-45, the tanker plane the company was supposed to build for the U.S. Air Force before that fateful court decision.

Belote says his company is now playing the waiting game.

There was a very rigorous competition that the government held to determine the best tanker replacement for the Air Force. We went through that scenario. Unfortunately it ended with a couple of procedural errors in the Air Force’s acquisition process and [it] seems that we’re back to square one.

Belote says the most difficult part about the situation is that the USAF is deploying tankers that date back to the Eisenhower Administration.

These are old aircraft. Many times they’re older than the pilots that fly them. Unfortunately, the Air Force has not been able to move forward in replacing these. The combat commanders who are responsible for this area have indicated that it’s unconscionable that we’re asking people to fly in combat in 50 year old air frames.

Belote believes the decision will have to wait, however, until after the election. He says his company hopes the new Defense Secretary will expedite the program.

This was the number one aircraft replacement priority program that the Air Force has had on the books for some time.

Northrop Grumman is going to wait to see if their past proposal for the tankers will work during the next round of competition. Belote says his company will act if there are major changes to the requirements of the contract, though.

We don’t believe that there is a need to go back and revalidate all the requirements that were put forward by the combatant commanders before. We believe that we offered the best tanker back in the original competition. . . . Our aircraft would — the first 68 aircraft — would have cost $12.5 billion compared to $15.4 billion under Boeing’s plan.

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Boeing, on the other hand, has said it welcomes the chance for open competition through the Pentagon’s decision to delay its choice.

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On the Web:

Northrop Grumman – KC-45 Tanker

Boeing – KC-X

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