Lawmakers seek one winner for KC-X project

[unhappycamper]

Lawmakers seek one winner for KC-X project
Staff report
Posted : Tuesday Oct 16, 2007 6:47:29 EDT

Bipartisan groups in the Senate and House of Representatives sent letters to the Air Force on Wednesday urging the service to choose a single winner of the KC-X project, the new aerial refueling tanker, according to a Reuters report.

Fourteen senators and 52 representatives signed the two letters. They included Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, where Boeing builds its 767 airliners, the basis for the company’s KC-X model.

The lawmakers expressed their belief that a winner-take-all competition would drive prices lower and ease the logistics of bringing a new tanker online while maintaining the existing KC-135s and KC-10s in the Air Force fleet, the report said.

"With many competing priorities in a resource constrained budget, the Air Force cannot afford the billions in additional, unbudgeted funding that would be necessary to cost effectively develop and procure two new tankers at the same time," Reuters quoted the House letter as reading.

But a study by the Defense Department’s former chief weapons acquisition officer, Jacques Gansler, says a “split buy” could cut costs by as much as 30 percent, Reuters reported. The study, partially funded by Northrop Grumman, Boeing’s KC-X competitor, said having two new tankers could prevent a fleetwide grounding, according to Reuters.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/10/airforce_congress_kcx_071012/



uhc comment: I guess Northrop Grumman is not happy with Boeing.

[NYVet]

1. Nohing to see here, move along...

Just more congress critters looking out for themselves and their constituants and not the troops.