A competition to upgrade or replace the U.S. Air Force's aging KC-135 tankers could take as little as six months or as long as several years, depending on the option chosen, a service official said Nov. 23.

Holding a competition to replace the engines on the KC-135Es, the oldest aircraft in the KC-135 fleet, would take roughly six months, while soliciting and evaluating proposals for a new commercial derivative aircraft, such as a Boeing 767 or Airbus A330, would probably take at least 18 months, said Air Force acquisition chief Marvin Sambur.

Picking a contractor to develop a new aircraft for Air Force refueling needs could take several years, Sambur said.

An analysis of alternatives (AOA) is assessing these and other options for modernizing the Air Force's refueling capability. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz wrote in a Nov. 19 letter to Congress that a competition will be held once the "appropriate alternative" is chosen (DAILY, Nov. 23). The AOA is scheduled to be finished by the end of November, although there have been signs that the study's completion could be delayed until December or January.

The Air Force has proposed acquiring 100 767 tankers to replace about 130 KC-135Es, but the deal has met resistance in Congress, partly because now-former Air Force acquisition official Darleen Druyun has admitted inflating the price of an early proposal before she took a job with Boeing. In addition, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld decided he wanted the AOA and other studies completed before he made a decision about tanker modernization. It is now expected that the 767 will compete with the A330 if the Pentagon opts to pursue a commercial derivative tanker.

Although there has been speculation about whether Boeing could sustain the 767 production line until a competition is completed, Boeing estimated a few months ago that it had a backlog of 24 aircraft, which would take more than two years to build, a company spokesman said Nov. 23. Since then, Boeing has received an airline order for four more 767s.

USAF defended

Sambur defended the Air Force amid calls by leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee for DOD's inspector general to investigate the Air Force's alleged failure to oversee Druyun. Sambur, who took office three years ago, said many steps were taken to curb Druyun's power and prevent future abuse, including decentralizing program execution responsibilities outside of Washington and directing that Sambur be briefed on major source selections before contract awards.

"When I came here, I recognized that there was an abuse-of-power potential," Sambur told The DAILY. "I systematically moved to strip that power away from her."

More reforms are under consideration by a Defense Science Board panel (DAILY, Nov. 10), which Sambur plans to meet with in about a week.

Rumsfeld seemed to back the thrust of Sambur's comments, saying at a Pentagon press briefing Nov. 23 that Sambur and Air Force Secretary James Roche, both of whom took office in 2001, were "uncomfortable" with, and moved to cut, the power Druyun had accumulated since 1993.

Sambur said many terms of the proposed deal with Boeing changed after Druyun left the Air Force in late 2002. The price was cut by almost $15 million a plane and several conditions were imposed, including a cap on Boeing's profits and a "best deal" guarantee.

"Every aspect of that contract that Darleen Druyun had initially conceived had been changed," Sambur said. "We tried to do everything right."