More American = More For America: The Boeing KC-767 Tanker

by George Landrith Frontiers of Freedom Institute
Published: 01-28-08
 
The competition for the KC-X refueling tanker – potentially the largest contract in defense history – is finally coming down the home stretch.  Final bids were recently submitted to the Air Force by both competitors for the contract Boeing and the consortium of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) and Northrop Grumman. 

The EADS/Northrop coalition employing an aggressive region-by-region public relations campaign paid spokespeople and clever rhetoric has managed to obscure the real issue in the KC-X competition.

The real question is simple – which aircraft offers more to the American economy the American taxpayer and American national security? 

The critical clue is that unlike its competitors’ entry the KC-767 is an American plane built by an American contractor.  Northrop has taken the public lead in the United States to shroud the fact that its team’s entry dubbed the KC-30 is in essence a modified version of the Airbus A330 a commercial airliner assembled in France by Airbus a subsidiary of Netherlands-based EADS. 

Very simply its deep American roots – along with Boeing’s own roots and experience in tanker design and production – ensure that beyond the rhetorical smoke and mirrors thrown up by Northrop and EADS the KC-767 offers more for America – by nearly any and every measure.

A recent statement by the EADS/Northrop-led team claims that their KC-30 Tanker aircraft “will be assembled in Mobile Ala. bringing thousands of new aerospace jobs to the U.S. that do not exist today.”  Northrop has been littering the country with regionally focused releases claiming job gains for the areas of the country targeted and enlisting local political leaders to support its cause.

But even the full-court EADS/Northrop campaign cannot obscure the simple math:  the Boeing aircraft will produce nearly twice the direct U.S. jobs as its competitor – not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars more generated in overall economic activity.

Given its European origins it is not surprising that around 40 percent of the content of the KC-30 will be foreign. 

In contrast the KC-767 is comprised of 85 percent U.S. content – 42 percent more than the KC-30.   Its content will come from more than 300 suppliers in 40 states providing more than 44000 direct new U.S. jobs – 76 percent more than the 25000 claimed by EADS and Northrop – and driving more than 2 billion dollars a year in total economic impact domestically. 

The high proportion of US content in the KC-767 will mean not only more American jobs and economic impact but also greater job security for American workers.  Boeing and its primary partners are US-based companies with every incentive to keep jobs on our shores.

On the other hand if the KC-30 emerges as the Air Force’s choice not only will at least 19000 jobs that could have gone to US workers be outsourced overseas but over time pressure will undoubtedly arise from the political leadership of the KC-30’s home countries’ foreign-based builders to move some of the American jobs initially involved with the project back to their markets.

In addition to job security national security considerations need to be taken into account.  If the contract is awarded to the KC-767 team sensitive technology and critical skills will stay at home.   If not a key US security asset – and the underlying technology – will be 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 bulk of the 15 percent of non-US content in the KC-767 is provided by suppliers from the United Kingdom our staunchest and most dependable ally.

Yet 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 the Air Force must choose on the basis of how well the winning plane delivers in terms of fulfilling the tanker’s mission as laid out by the service efficiently and cost-effectively.

To that end the service has repeatedly extended the bidding period and held far-reaching detailed meetings and briefings with both teams in order to ensure that its requirements are well-understood and fully met.

In the case of the Boeing-led team that appears to be time well spent.  Once again the math is simple:  the KC-767 will deliver more in terms of meeting the Air Force’s mission while saving the taxpayer hundreds of millions of dollars.

The aircraft 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.  According to subcontractor GE aviation 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.  

The boom can offload more than 1000 gallons of fuel per minute – meaning that the KC-767 can refuel a B1B bomber in approximately 10 minutes – and can simultaneously service multiple aircraft. 

Safety and efficiency are further enhanced by a remote vision refueling system enabled by camera systems and a “heads-up” guidance system.  Tanker pilots would also benefit from an advanced flight deck designed for the commercial 767-400ER featuring LCD flat panel displays integrated avionics and communication and an electronic flight bag a computing platform that replaces a raft of paper-based reference material.

The KC-30 also would offer high-tech features including its own advanced boom – which it is vital to note has never been tested in transferring fuel in the air. So the “game-changer” – as Northrop CEO Ronald Sugar has put it – is the KC-767’s greater capability flexibility and value to taxpayers. 

Once again the numbers speak for themselves. 

The KC-767’s 30 percent smaller footprint than the 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 KC-767s as KC-30s can be based on a parking ramp.  Moreover its lesser size does not in any way compromise the KC-767’s ability to perform the required mission.  On the contrary the KC-767 offers more than 1000 additional basing options worldwide than the incumbent KC-135 meaning the aircraft can deliver more fuel where it is needed when it is needed.

It 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 pallet military pallets 190 passengers and 18 aeromedical pallets.  The KC-767 is also 99 percent interoperable with existing commercial and military support equipment almost completely eliminating the need to retrofit existing aircraft.

Next to its superior flexibility and performance the KC-767 also offers value:  24 percent greater fuel efficiency and a 22 percent lower operating cost than its competitor saving taxpayers an estimated $14.6 billion in precious fuel and $4 billion in operating costs.  Moreover the Boeing entry offers a significant side benefit over its competitor in a time when the “carbon footprint” of aircraft has come under increasing scrutiny:  30 percent lower emissions.

EADS and Northrop have made numerous references to their “low-risk” approach to the tanker contract.  Once again however and decisively so the math is powerfully on Boeing’s side.

No contractor can begin to match Boeing’s 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 KC-767 Global Tanker Team’s 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 KC-767.

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 such as Honeywell Rockwell Collins Vought Aircraft Industries Pratt & Whitney Smiths Aerospace Spirit AeroSystems and Delta TechOps.

Moreover Boeing is flying KC-767s 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 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 KC-767 will be produced at Boeing’s existing commercial line in Everett Wash. where the company has already built more than 950 767s.

The track record of success expertise and investment behind the KC-767 dramatically reduces the risk of introducing an untried new aircraft from an inexperienced tanker vendor and support and supply chain. 

It is estimated that when future additional purchases are taken into account the KC-X contract may grow to more than $100 billion dollars.  As the Department of Defense and the taxpayer consider an investment of this magnitude it only makes sense to ensure that as much of this enormous investment as possible remains in the United States to create and sustain American jobs and preserve our national security that the best-performing most fuel-efficient and most cost-effective system be selected and that the task be granted to the most experienced and least-risky supplier. 

In other words that the choice provide the most for America. When all these factors are combined in one supplier the decision in favor of Boeing’s team and its KC-767 is to put it in the vernacular a no-brainer. 

With a recession pending fuel prices skyrocketing and the demands on an already strained defense force rising America can only hope that as the Air Force finally makes its decision on its next generation of tankers in the weeks to come performance – both in economic and security terms – will take precedence over public relations.

Frontiers of Freedom Institute was founded in 1994 by U.S. Senator Malcolm Wallop and is 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 and traditional American values as found in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.