![Rastos Quimicos [1/7]O Que Andam a Pulverizar Pelo Mundo?-(What In The World Are They Spraying)](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qT5_UGopmtU/0.jpg "Rastos Quimicos [1/7]O Que Andam a Pulverizar Pelo Mundo?-(What In The World Are They Spraying)")
![KC Stadium in the day. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn4.wn.com/pd/1b/a2/45b5ac7f27de7819d9f44ad35601_grande.jpg "KC Stadium in the day. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who.")
![The KC stadium before the Hull v Burnley Football League Championship 4 March 2008. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn2.wn.com/pd/27/c5/8330b9add2d3db54911bca2341df_grande.jpg "The KC stadium before the Hull v Burnley Football League Championship 4 March 2008. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who")
![Flight deck of KC-135R; instrument panel has been modified under the Pacer-CRAG program. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn3.wn.com/pd/1b/f6/1234768f8f1906f0203d35427e0f_grande.jpg "Flight deck of KC-135R; instrument panel has been modified under the Pacer-CRAG program. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).")
![USAF KC-135R Stratotanker of the 100th Air Refueling Wing (USAFE) at RAF Mildenhall, UK. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn6.wn.com/pd/b5/7a/b1e92cff6a6491bb48b31bc41a1f_grande.jpg "USAF KC-135R Stratotanker of the 100th Air Refueling Wing (USAFE) at RAF Mildenhall, UK. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).")
Dr. King and When Monuments Distort the Messenger and Message
WorldNews.com
Gaddafi's family flees to Algeria
The Times of India
Pentagon wasted '$30 billion' on contracts
Al Jazeera
Hurricane Irene: Barack Obama warns effects will be 'felt for some time'
The Daily Telegraph
Cuba and Why the U.S. Needs Its 'Nuclear' Balls Cut off
WorldNews.com
| Name | KC-X program |
|---|---|
| Caption | A United States Air Force KC-135 tanker takes off in Gloucestershire, England. The winner of the KC-X program is slated to replace older KC-135s. |
KC-X is the name of the United States Air Force program to procure its next-generation aerial refueling tanker aircraft. This aircraft is intended to replace some of the older Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. The contest is for a production contract for 179 new tankers with estimated value of US$35 billion. The two contenders to replace the KC-135 aircraft are Boeing and EADS, following the elimination of US Aerospace, Inc.
The current KC-X program follows earlier attempts by the United States Air Force to procure a new tanker. A 2002 plan had the USAF leasing Boeing KC-767 tankers, followed by a 2003 modification where the USAF would buy most of the KC-767 aircraft and lease several more of them. Corruption investigations revealed wrongdoing in the award of the contract and the contract was canceled in 2005, setting the stage for the KC-X program.
The United States Air Force issued the KC-X request for proposal in January 2007, In June 2008, the U.S. Government Accountability Office sustained a protest by Boeing on the award of the contract. In July 2008, the U.S. Defense Department reopened the bidding process, In September 2009, the USAF began the first steps toward accepting new bids. In March 2010, Northrop Grumman announced that it would pull out of the bidding process.
Led by Senator John McCain, several US government leaders protested the lease contract as wasteful and problematic. In response to the protests, the Air Force struck a compromise in November 2003, whereby it would purchase 80 KC-767 aircraft and lease 20 more.
Yet in December 2003, the Pentagon announced the project was to be frozen while an investigation of allegations of corruption by one if its former procurement staffers, Darleen Druyun (who had moved to Boeing in January 2003) was begun. Druyun pled guilty of criminal wrongdoing and was sentenced to nine months in jail for "negotiating a job with Boeing at the same time she was involved in contracts with the company". Additional fallout included the termination of CFO Michael M. Sears (who was later sentenced to four months in prison in 2005), the resignation of Boeing CEO Philip M. Condit, and the payment by Boeing of a $615 million fine in recompense for their actions related to the contract. In January 2006, the lease contract was formally canceled.
In February 2007, the Seattle Times commented on the pre-final designs: "Northrop has been viewed as the underdog, with a heavier, less fuel efficient aircraft. The Airbus tanker would have a maximum fuel capacity of 200,000 pounds. Northrop spokesman Randy Belote said Northrop's K-30 would tack on roughly 20 percent in fuel capacity."
Both competitors submitted their tanker proposals before the 12 April 2007 deadline. In September 2007, the USAF rejected having a mixed fleet new tankers from both Boeing and Northrop Grumman as being unfeasible because of increased costs in buying limited numbers of two types annually. The competitors submitted final revisions of their proposals to the U.S. Air Force on 3 January 2008. On 29 February 2008, the DoD announced their choice of the Northrop Grumman/EADS's KC-30.
In December 2007, it was announced that this aircraft will be designated the KC-45A regardless of which design wins the competition. The DoD anticipated that the KC-45A would start to enter service in 2013.
On 11 March 2008, Boeing filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the award of the contract to the Northrop Grumman/EADS team. Boeing stated that there are certain aspects of the USAF evaluation process that have given it grounds to appeal. Their protest was upheld by the GAO on 18 June 2008, who recommended that the Air Force rebid the contract.
The fiscal 2011 Defense Department budget relegates $864 million in research and development money. A contract award was expected in summer 2010. On 24 February 2010, the US Air Force released the revised request for proposal (RFP) for KC-X. The RFP calls for the KC-X tanker to first fly in 2012 and aircraft deliveries to begin in 2013.
On 8 March 2010, Northrop Grumman followed through with their earlier threat and decided to not submit a bid for the KC-X tanker stating that they believe the new evaluation methodology favors Boeing's smaller tanker. EADS, however announced on 20 April 2010, that it was re-entering the competition on a stand-alone basis and intended to bid the KC-30 with final assembly to take place in Mobile, Alabama as planned under its prior teaming arrangement with Northrop Grumman. On 18 June 2010, the USAF announced that the decision would been delayed until November 2010.
On 1 July 2010, a surprise third bidder, consisting of the team of US Aerospace and the Ukrainian manufacturer Antonov announced its intention to bid in the competition. The two firms announced that they would be interested in supplying up to three types of aircraft to the United States Air Force. The types reportedly being offered are the four-engined An-124 and a twin-engined variant of the aircraft, the An-122. The third aircraft to be offered is known as the An-112. The An-112 tanker is a version of the Antonov An-70, except with two jet engines. This tanker was proposed in the team's bid. However, the Air Force rejected the US Aerospace bid for allegedly arriving 5 minutes after the deadline, which US Aerospace disputes. US Aerospace filed separate protests with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on 2 August and 1 September. The U.S. Air Force proceeded with source selection while GAO investigated. The GAO dismissed U.S. Aerospace’s protest on 6 October.
In November 2010 the USAF made yet another mistake by sending technical reviews of the other side's bids to each of the two remaining teams. However the usual new delay in awarding the contract was said to be unrelated.
Loren B. Thompson, of the libertarian think tank Lexington Institute, has called various Air Force actions during this round of bidding "a subtle pattern of bias against the Boeing team", that Boeing would have difficulty overcoming in a bid dispute.
Sources: Northrop Grumman KC-30, Airbus A330, KC-767 Advanced Tanker, Boeing 767, Civil Aircraft, A330 FSTA An-112KC
Category:Military aircraft procurement programs of the United States
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
![KC Stadium in the day. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn3.wn.com/pd/1b/a2/45b5ac7f27de7819d9f44ad35601_thumb.jpg "KC Stadium in the day. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who.")
![The KC stadium before the Hull v Burnley Football League Championship 4 March 2008. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn1.wn.com/pd/27/c5/8330b9add2d3db54911bca2341df_thumb.jpg "The KC stadium before the Hull v Burnley Football League Championship 4 March 2008. As well as serving as a sporting venue, the KC Stadium also hosts musical events, including such artists as Sir Elton John,[8] Bryan Adams,[8] R.E.M.[8] and The Who")
![Flight deck of KC-135R; instrument panel has been modified under the Pacer-CRAG program. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn2.wn.com/pd/1b/f6/1234768f8f1906f0203d35427e0f_thumb.jpg "Flight deck of KC-135R; instrument panel has been modified under the Pacer-CRAG program. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).")
![USAF KC-135R Stratotanker of the 100th Air Refueling Wing (USAFE) at RAF Mildenhall, UK. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).](http://web.archive.org./web/20110831062656im_/http://cdn5.wn.com/pd/b5/7a/b1e92cff6a6491bb48b31bc41a1f_thumb.jpg "USAF KC-135R Stratotanker of the 100th Air Refueling Wing (USAFE) at RAF Mildenhall, UK. The KC-135R has four turbofan engines, mounted under 35-degree swept wings,[13] which power it to takeoffs at gross weights up to 322,500 pounds (146,300 kg).")
