The New Gen Tanker
By George Landrith
There is a good reason why French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was delighted" when he believed that Airbus had been awarded the $100 billion tanker contract. Likewise German Chancellor Angela Merkel called it an immense success for Airbus and the European aerospace industry." Spanish officials also said that Airbus winning the contract would be a success without precedents for Spains industry of high technology."
Interestingly they did not congratulate American workers who stood only to see their jobs exported to Europe. These revealing statements by European leaders prove that Europe will be the primary beneficiary of Airbus winning the contract and that American workers would be left out in the cold.
The high proportion of U.S. content in Boeings NewGen Tanker will mean not only more American jobs and economic impact but also greater job security for American workers. Boeing and its primary partners are U.S.-based companies with every incentive to keep jobs on our shores.
On the other hand if the KC-30 is purchased not only will at least 25000 jobs that could have gone to U.S. workers be outsourced overseas but over time pressure will undoubtedly arise from the political leadership of the KC-30s home countries foreign-based builders to move some of the American jobs initially involved with the project back to their markets.
And of course if Airbus doesnt act on its stated intention one that it could easily renege on and instead builds more of the plane in Europe as it currently does then the job loss and economic harm would be even worse and could almost double.
In addition to job security national security considerations must be taken into account. If the contract is awarded to the NewGen team sensitive technology will be developed in America and critical skills will stay at home. If not a key U.S. security asset and the underlying technology will be developed and largely built and accessed by a French-based company Airbus whose owners are subject to pressure by political leadership that has not always shared our political and military goals.
It is also worth noting that the comparatively small 15 percent of non-U.S. content in Boeings NewGen Tanker is provided by suppliers from Japan Italy and the United Kingdom some of our staunchest and most dependable allies. And of course the vast majority of Boeings NewGen Tanker 85 percent is made in the U.S. by American workers.
More Performance & Value for the Taxpayer
As important as it is economic impact on the United States cannot be the sole or even decisive factor in awarding the KC-X contract. Rather ultimately America must choose its new tanker on the basis of how well the plane can perform and fulfill the tankers mission as laid out by the war fighters. Additionally we must select a tanker that performs that mission efficiently and cost-effectively.
The math is simple: the NewGen Tanker will deliver more in terms of meeting the Air Forces mission while saving the taxpayer billions of dollars. And the Boeing tanker will save money in the acquisition phase and every year thereafter in the operation and maintenance of the tanker.
The cost of buying the next generation tanker while substantial is only the tip of the iceberg. The NewGen tanker costs less to buy in the first instance. So from day one it will
save both the military and taxpayers money. But that is not all. Over the life of the tanker the fuel savings and the lower operational costs of Boeings NewGen Tanker will continue to save the military and taxpayers billions of dollars.
But that too is not all. On top of that the NewGen Tanker will require virtually no modifications to our airfields runways ramps or hangers around the world. The Boeing tanker works from day one at all our existing facilities which saves taxpayers the cost of these expensive construction projects.
The NewGen Tanker will offer the most state-of-the-art technology. Its key feature is a fly-by-wire boom the telescoping tube used to deliver fuel to military aircraft. The fly-by-wire system which is controlled by computer rather than the traditional mechanical operations provides more precise and responsive controls to the operator automatically corrects its position to reduce potential damage to the receiver aircraft and is easier to maintain. According to pilots this makes in-air adjustments smoother and easier.
We have operated a simulator of this high-tech boom and it is truly an amazing piece of technology. It works simply accurately and as advertised no guesswork needed.
The NewGen Tanker boom can refuel a B1B bomber in approximately 10 minutes and can simultaneously service multiple aircraft.
It is worth noting that Boeings tanker has been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and features a refueling boom that has been highly tested and has proven capability. In contrast the Airbus tanker is not FAA certified and its boom is just now being tested.
Moreover the Airbus tanker cannot refuel the new Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft a subject about which their representatives were denying in hopes of making a better case for their less capable tanker. Why is the U.S. considering buying $40 billion worth of new tankers that cant refuel one of our newest aircraft and one that will likely be in our fleet for the next several decades? Are the taxpayers to pay for another tanker just to refuel this one new aircraft? Is the military to lose operational flexibility getting stuck with a tanker that only works with some aircraft? Are taxpayers to be stuck paying for this inefficiency?
In contrast the Boeing NewGen Tanker tanker can refuel the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft.
Once again the numbers speak for themselves. The NewGen Tankers 30 percent smaller footprint than the Airbus KC-30 means more options as well as greater fuel efficiency lower operating costs and superior environmental performance. According to Boeing nearly twice as many NewGen Tankers as KC-30s can be based on a parking ramp. And Airbuss larger KC-30 doesnt actually provide more refueling in real world situations.
The Boeing NewGen Tanker was designed to maximize flexibility and capability in real world combat situations. So its smaller size does not in any way compromise its ability to perform the required mission. On the contrary the NewGen Tanker offers more than 1000 additional basing options worldwide than the incumbent KC-135 meaning the NewGen Tanker tanker can deliver more fuel where it is needed when it is needed.
In contrast the Airbus plane is so large that it cannot land in many critical military bases and because of its size it cannot perform many of the needed refueling missions. Simply put the military will be disadvantaged in its effort to fulfill its mission if it has a tanker that is too large and cumbersome to be of real use in real-world situations.
The Boeing tanker as configured in the original bid process offers 300 percent more cargo passenger and patient capacity than the incumbent KC-135 enabling it to perform a multi-mission capability including the delivery of up to 19 military pallets 190 passengers and 18 aeromedical pallets. The NewGen Tanker is also 99 percent interoperable with existing commercial and military support equipment almost completely eliminating the need to retrofit existing aircraft. This saves the military and taxpayers money and insures from day one that everything will work as needed.
In addition to being interoperable with existing commercial and military support equipment the NewGen Tanker was designed to work on current airfields meaning that current aircraft hangers runways and ramps will require no expensive upgrades or new construction. If the French KC-30 were chosen airfields runways ramps and hangers would have to be substantially enlarged and upgraded at an additional cost of billions of dollars to the taxpayers. These are real costs and must be accurately taken into account with the French KC-30. Simply stated in addition to the cost of the KC-30 the cost of retro-fitting airfields and hangers at bases around the world must be included.
Since more than half of the current tankers are operated by the Air National Guard this is an important cost consideration and one that the Pentagon must accurately account for if it wants its bid process to have legitimacy and if it wants to protect the American taxpayer and the cash strapped Air National Guard.
Currently it appears the Pentagon is trying to ignore or minimize this important cost factor. Hopefully it will rethink this wrong-headed gamesmanship. The tanker fleet flies disproportionately out of airfields that will require significant upgrades costing taxpayers
billions if the Airbus plane is selected. That is a cold hard fact and the Pentagon must stop playing games with this fact and instead deal with it honestly and fairly.
Next to its superior flexibility and performance the NewGen Tanker also offers value and longterm cost savings 24 percent greater fuel efficiency and a 22 percent lower operating cost than its French competitor saving taxpayers an estimated $14.6 billion in precious fuel and $4 billion in operating costs. Moreover the Boeing tanker offers a significant side benefit over its competitor in a time when the carbon footprint" of aircraft has come under increasing scrutiny burning 24 percent less fuel means substantially lower emissions too.
Tanker & Crew Safety
The Air Forces evaluation concluded that the Boeing tanker had a marked advantage in the critical area of survivability meaning that the Boeing tanker is better able to avoid and survive enemy attack. In 24 different survivability criteria the Boeing tanker was superior.
Safety is further enhanced by a remote vision refueling system enabled by camera systems. Tanker pilots would also benefit from an advanced flight deck featuring high-tech 787 displays and integrated avionics and communications.
Some of the survivability highlights from the 2008 bid include:
- the Boeing tanker has more robust surface-to-air missile defenses;
- the Boeing tanker has superior cockpit displays that provide greater situational awareness and the ability to see and assess threats to the tanker and the crew;
- the Boeing tanker is better able to survive and operate in an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) environment;
- the Boeing tanker has automatic systems that assist the flight crew in avoiding threats once detected;
- the Boeing tanker has superior armor-protection for the crew and critical aircraft systems and superior fuel tank explosion protection capabilities.
Simply put the Boeing tanker has the most advanced and reliable integrated defensive systems to protect the aircraft and the crew.
We owe it to our fighting men and women to provide them with the best and safest equipment and tools as they defend America. Thus the Boeing NewGen Tankers greater military capability flexibility safety and survivability are decisive factors. When you add in the value to taxpayers it becomes obvious that the NewGen Tanker is the tanker for the job.
More Experience Means Less Risk
Airbus has made numerous references to their low-risk" approach to the tanker contract. Once again however the facts are powerfully and decisively on Boeings side.
No contractor can begin to match Boeings tradition of three-quarters of a century of experience and billions in investment and infrastructure devoted to building and supporting world-class tankers. Nor can they even begin to approach the NewGen Global Tanker Teams experience and infrastructure. In its 75 years of producing aerial refueling technology Boeing has built more than 2000 tankers including the KC-135 and has already invested more than $1 billion in the development of the NewGen Tanker.
Fully 90 percent of the aerial refueling tankers flying today have been supplied by the Global Tanker Team which in addition to Boeing includes world-class defense contractors and suppliers.
Moreover Boeing is flying NewGen Tankers today with more than 330 flights and nearly 1000 hours on the tanker platform all supported by an existing worldwide maintenance capability and infrastructure and a global supply chain. And in contrast to the KC-30 which will allegedly be assembled in a yet to be built facility in Alabama as opposed to Airbus facilities in France where the company has more experience the NewGen Tanker will be produced at Boeings existing and well-established commercial line in Everett Washington where the company has already built almost one thousand 767s.
Boeing has built every one of the 450-plus tankers currently in the Air Force fleet. Airbus has never delivered a single tanker equipped with the refueling boom that the U.S. military requires.
Thus past performance and experience clearly and decisively favor Boeing. The track record of success expertise and investment behind the NewGen Tanker dramatically reduces the risk of introducing an untried new aircraft from an inexperienced tanker vendor and support and supply chain.
Will cheaters prosper?
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Frontiers of Freedom Institute was founded in 1994 by U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop as an educational institute (or think tank) whose mission is to promote conservative public policy based on the principles of individual freedom peace through strength limited government free enterprise & traditional American values as found in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
save both the military and taxpayers money. But that is not all. Over the life of the tanker the fuel savings and the lower operational costs of Boeings NewGen Tanker will continue to save the military and taxpayers billions of dollars.
But that too is not all. On top of that the NewGen Tanker will require virtually no modifications to our airfields runways ramps or hangers around the world. The Boeing tanker works from day one at all our existing facilities which saves taxpayers the cost of these expensive construction projects.
The NewGen Tanker will offer the most state-of-the-art technology. Its key feature is a fly-by-wire boom the telescoping tube used to deliver fuel to military aircraft. The fly-by-wire system which is controlled by computer rather than the traditional mechanical operations provides more precise and responsive controls to the operator automatically corrects its position to reduce potential damage to the receiver aircraft and is easier to maintain. According to pilots this makes in-air adjustments smoother and easier.
We have operated a simulator of this high-tech boom and it is truly an amazing piece of technology. It works simply accurately and as advertised no guesswork needed.
The NewGen Tanker boom can refuel a B1B bomber in approximately 10 minutes and can simultaneously service multiple aircraft.
It is worth noting that Boeings tanker has been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and features a refueling boom that has been highly tested and has proven capability. In contrast the Airbus tanker is not FAA certified and its boom is just now being tested.
Moreover the Airbus tanker cannot refuel the new Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft a subject about which their representatives were denying in hopes of making a better case for their less capable tanker. Why is the U.S. considering buying $40 billion worth of new tankers that cant refuel one of our newest aircraft and one that will likely be in our fleet for the next several decades? Are the taxpayers to pay for another tanker just to refuel this one new aircraft? Is the military to lose operational flexibility getting stuck with a tanker that only works with some aircraft? Are taxpayers to be stuck paying for this inefficiency?
In contrast the Boeing NewGen Tanker tanker can refuel the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft.
Once again the numbers speak for themselves. The NewGen Tankers 30 percent smaller footprint than the Airbus KC-30 means more options as well as greater fuel efficiency lower operating costs and superior environmental performance. According to Boeing nearly twice as many NewGen Tankers as KC-30s can be based on a parking ramp. And Airbuss larger KC-30 doesnt actually provide more refueling in real world situations.
The Boeing NewGen Tanker was designed to maximize flexibility and capability in real world combat situations. So its smaller size does not in any way compromise its ability to perform the required mission. On the contrary the NewGen Tanker offers more than 1000 additional basing options worldwide than the incumbent KC-135 meaning the NewGen Tanker tanker can deliver more fuel where it is needed when it is needed.
In contrast the Airbus plane is so large that it cannot land in many critical military bases and because of its size it cannot perform many of the needed refueling missions. Simply put the military will be disadvantaged in its effort to fulfill its mission if it has a tanker that is too large and cumbersome to be of real use in real-world situations.
The Boeing tanker as configured in the original bid process offers 300 percent more cargo passenger and patient capacity than the incumbent KC-135 enabling it to perform a multi-mission capability including the delivery of up to 19 military pallets 190 passengers and 18 aeromedical pallets. The NewGen Tanker is also 99 percent interoperable with existing commercial and military support equipment almost completely eliminating the need to retrofit existing aircraft. This saves the military and taxpayers money and insures from day one that everything will work as needed.
In addition to being interoperable with existing commercial and military support equipment the NewGen Tanker was designed to work on current airfields meaning that current aircraft hangers runways and ramps will require no expensive upgrades or new construction. If the French KC-30 were chosen airfields runways ramps and hangers would have to be substantially enlarged and upgraded at an additional cost of billions of dollars to the taxpayers. These are real costs and must be accurately taken into account with the French KC-30. Simply stated in addition to the cost of the KC-30 the cost of retro-fitting airfields and hangers at bases around the world must be included.
Since more than half of the current tankers are operated by the Air National Guard this is an important cost consideration and one that the Pentagon must accurately account for if it wants its bid process to have legitimacy and if it wants to protect the American taxpayer and the cash strapped Air National Guard.
Currently it appears the Pentagon is trying to ignore or minimize this important cost factor. Hopefully it will rethink this wrong-headed gamesmanship. The tanker fleet flies disproportionately out of airfields that will require significant upgrades costing taxpayers billions if the Airbus plane is selected. That is a cold hard fact and the Pentagon must stop playing games with this fact and instead deal with it honestly and fairly.
