Airbus Ready for USAF to Open Tanker Competition

Airbus believes that the Pentagon is ready to open the U.S. Air Force's requirement for new tanker aircraft to competition, according to CEO Noel Forgeard. "After letting everyone think there would be no competition, it seems that there will be one," he says.

Airbus has reopened talks with Lockheed Martin, the most logical partner for a U.S. venture. A few weeks ago, Lockheed officials were saying that the USAF had been asking the company to refrain from public comment on the USAF tanker requirement. Forgeard's response: "That's getting precisely into the area that I don't want to talk about. Just say that we understand U.S. politics."

Since the September 11 attacks, Boeing and its congressional allies have been pushing a proposal to lease up to 100 KC-767 tankers to the USAF -- reducing the service's reliance on aging KC-135s, offsetting Boeing's post-attack slump and keeping the flagging 767 line moving. USAF secretary James Roche is strongly in favor of a new tanker. Airbus has proposed tankers based on the A310 and A300 airframes for a number of international requirements.