WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama may have to use a veto threat to preserve Pentagon plans for a winner-take-all competition to start a new multibillion-dollar U.S. aerial-refueling fleet, the head of the House of Representatives' Armed Services Committee said on Monday.
"That is probably where we'll start and end," Rep. Ike Skelton, a Missouri Democrat, said in reply to a question about moves in Congress that would guarantee Air Force purchases from both rival tanker suppliers -- Boeing Co and a team of Northrop Grumman Corp and Europe's EADS.
Obama may need veto threat to keep Gates tanker plan | Politics | Reuters
For all of you who have been following this as closely as I have the Air Force Tanker program is now at the center of another fight. Should the Air Force be forced to purchase half the aircraft from EADS and half from Boeing. Keep in mind that these aircraft while they may look the same on the outside are completely different aircraft. Having 2 seperate Tankers would require 2 different sets of training and maintenance procedures one for each aircraft type. Further, the cost associated with spares that are not inter-changeable would double the cost over the life of the contract. However on the flip side of that is the Air Force has been flying the KC-10A Tanker originally made by McDonnell Douglas and the Boeing KC-135 in several types with the E model which is virtually a new aircraft after it has been rebuilt by Boeing in San Antonio at around 20 million a copy. There is also the issue of jobs for both Washington and Alabama at stake here, if the contract is awarded to EADS which is the same company that makes Airbus it would mean according to EADS around 50,000 plus jobs the same is true for Boeing. The bottom line here though is what is best for the Air Force and the American Public. It is my humble opinion that the DoD and the Air Force has expressed a desire for one aircraft and this is what should happen. Further, without political considerations involved, Boeing has been in the business of Aerial refueling for over 50 years and has the experience and the know how to do it safely and on time. This contract award should go to the company most qualified to do the job and most able to keep it and build it here at home and thats Boeing. One more thing to consider here is a aircraft that so vital and so badly needed by our warfighters should not be one that could so easily be held hostage by another nation should they disagree with US policy. Now is not the time to delay this as President Obama has expressed a desire to do for another 5 years, it's time to award the contract and finally deliver this much needed aircraft to the field.
The White House budget office has asked the Pentagon to consider delaying the purchase of aerial refueling tankers by five years, a move that reflects the constraints of drawing up a budget in the midst of a recession, according to two sources familiar with the administration's discussions.
Obama Considering Tanker Deal Delay - washingtonpost.com
