Wichitans hear mostly the Boeing side of the battle over the Air Force tanker contract — that Boeing is the obvious choice over the Northrop Grumman and EADS (Airbus) consortium because it would mean more U.S. jobs. But in advance of the Air Force’s expected Feb. 13 decision, the British magazine the Economist offers some pro-EADS reasoning. It quotes a Northrop executive as calling Boeing’s KC-767 the “Frankentanker†because of its blended design, and notes that three air commanders in the Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo operations favor Northrop’s larger KC-30 tankers because of their flexibility and fuel capacity. “Amid the fog of claim and counter-claim, there is little doubt that the KC-30 is the more capable aircraft,†the Economist said.
We disagree — and trust the Air Force will, too.
23 Comments
Boeing all the way…
It’s not just building the aircraft, it’s the ready supply of parts and high level maintenance that Boeing can do right here in the states at their facilities.
Yeah Airbus, let them build passenger and cargo planes in Europe. Northrop should stick with fighter aircraft.
Who is the we in ‘we disagree’?
Also, why do they disagree? No reason given. The paper is not exactly balanced on this one. Just look at the coverage.
Given all that looks like they are basing their decision on the claim that McConnell will be closed or severely reduced if the KC-30 is the tanker of choice. Not based on the best aircraft decision as stated above.
Tankerless Todd and Sam the Sham give all sorts of reasons that THEIR state/district/employer should get the contract. But, as an AMERICAN (not just a Kansan) I want to know which is best for my country. Are they telling me that workers in the Gulf Coast region of my country cannot deliver?
Just because Tankerless Todd worked for Boeing (in government contract procurement) is NOT a reason for me to support the Boeing proposal. Convince me it is better for my country.
Ben
Isn’t there an additional economic benefit by building it here. Money stays here, pays taxes here etc …… maybe with the money staying here someone will develop a GOOD Kansas wine — I wonder where all the employees might come from. With a resort / gaming nearby, the development of an alternative energy / green industry and the growing need for skilled acft workers could create a need for about 4-5 thousand employees ? I suspect the acft industry here wouldn’t want it because of the potential for increased wage competition …….. would be a good reason to invest in the Wichita real estate market …
John McEADS McCain likes Airbus.
We can’t argue with McCain, can we?
Actually, Ben, you have been very unfair to Todd Tiahrt on the Tanker issue.
For starters, Todd has done a great job for aerospace in general. WSU has done well, with their research. Todd has been a strong spokesman for Wichita area contractors, on all government contracts.
Where do you get off picking on Todd Tiahrt, the strongest defender of the Boeing Tanker project?
You have never criticized John McCain, and it is John McCains ego, and very little else, that caused Wichita to miss out on thousands of jobs.
Sure, McCain helped uncover some bad behavior, by one Boeing exec. So what? That person was punished.
McCain was not satisfied. McCain wanted blood — and Wichita has been bleeding ever since!
—-
By the way, Eagle;
To play “devils advocate” for a moment (which means that Ben does have a point):
“Three Air Commanders” is an odd term to use, unless put in context.
How many TOTAL “Air Commanders” were there, in Bosnia, Kosovo and the Gulf War?
Also, we have had Afganistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom since then. What of those “Air Commanders”?
Investigative journalism, please?
I predict that John McCain will say that he has always supported Boeing, and that Boeing should get the Tanker deal— should “Super Tuesday” still not determine the GOP winnter.
I predict, further, that the Eagle will not hold McCain accountable for killing the Boeing Tanker deal.
McCain is Hillary Light:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tGTJDAAHCnQ
Investigative journalism by the Eagle? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!
ken – ‘here’ as in Kansas yes it helps Kansas. But, as an AMERICAN I also see the USA Gulf Coast as part of ‘here’. Sort of like my car that was built in Marysville Ohio.
I would love to see the Eagle investigate all the corruption at Boeing with their previous attempt to get the tanker as basically a no-bid contract. But, as NOPE said …
I remember no bid contracts being challenged and it sucked. Two of our gould-brush strip chart recorders had broken down, so we ordered two new ones, because we had all the amps and various plug-ins for them.
Some Japanese company put litigation on them for six months (Watanobi) and our research project was put on hold. We ended up using ancient strip recorders that couldn’t really be properly calibrated – so our results were questionable. And since there was no plug ins to use, we had to use a separate Fourier Analyzer to interpret the data.
It was like…
Sometimes no bid contracts are just the ticket when you need to get the job done, especially with replacement equipment and parts.
We’re down to how many aircraft companies in the US?
Sherman anti-trust hasn’t been enforced for years and there’s become little competition within the US in many industries, including aircraft manufacturing. (What is MADE in the USA today? Practically nothing!)
So is it a surprise the one big company left in America is no longer building the best aircraft?
Why should they? To Boeing, the US Government is a captive customer. There is no incentive to make the best when you no longer have competitors.
Those who want One Single Healthcare company, ie Hillary National Healthcare, will see the same result if they get their way.
Hell, we should have the Government take over Boeing and whoever is left in the US to make planes and let the Government make the planes.
You Socialist Libs are opposed to competition and think the Government can do everything better anyway.
If you want the best plane, buy it from another country. That would send the strongest message to Boeing and motivate them to perform better next time.
If you want wishy washing average military aircraft, then buy from the USA. That will keep all those union workers employed, at taxpayer expense.
Where’s Cosmos and the other Global Warming alarmists on this one?
Eliminating manufacturing in the US would help reduce our CO2 emissions.
Who cares if America loses jobs, when we are destroying our planet? And think of all the CO2 that comes from those nasty airplanes.
And tankers guys, you know what they are carrying don’t you! Fossil fuels. That’s right, the tankers are burning fuel polluting the air and killing the planet with CO2. AND these tankers are supplying fuel to other planes to ensure that we MAXIMIZE our CO2 emissions!
Where are you GW people?
You want to ban my barbeque grill and my lawn mower, but by God, you want to keep Boeing going.
Max the green people could care less about losing American jobs. Unemployment only matters when they can blame Bushy for it. In fact, Tyson Foods’ plans layoff of 1,500 employees with the closure of its slaughter operations in Emporia and they report higher feed costs (ethanol) is partially to blame. But ethanol is “green”, so no one cares.
And BTW, the only way they will get my BBQ grill is if they pry it out of my dead fingers. Now, they might ban the propane, or the briquettes, but they will not get my grill or my smoker!
Just think of all the dirty CO2 emitting plants we eliminated in the USA with NAFTA?
Wont it take more energy to build these airplanes in Europe, and fly them back to America?
But, the Greens are only interested in beating up on American businesses.
Freshman Econ – the Gulf Coast is part of the United States. As for your BS attack on scientists that is simply pure BS.
Ben, you continue to call Todd Tiahrt “Tankerless Todd” — even though Todd Tiahrt worked tirelessly on the Boeing Tanker deal.
John McCain sunk the Boeing Tanker deal.
You side with John McCain, and against Boeing, and you still give Tiahrt a hard time about trying to bring the Tanker job to Wichita?
I’d much rather see a nice increase in the value of boeing stock as opposed to EADS stock! Why should we ship anymore greenbacks overseas? When EADS wanted military freighters, they didn’t really consider what was available in the U.S.
They just awarded it to EADS, so they could keep the economic benefits, we would be fools to do otherwise.
Paul – I don’t necessarily ’side’ with McCain. However I do agree with him that the contract should have been properly negotiated and bid. The sinking of that contract came about due to the corruption that surrounded it.
As for ‘Tankerless Todd’ you should know that it was your guy George WMD who nick-named him ‘Tanker Todd’; I am simply taking note that he failed to fulfill that promised pork. Perhaps if he had not tried to do it with corruption but gotten his former employer to follow the rules we WOULD have gotten the deal by now.
Given the fact that Tiahrt worked for Boeing in procurement it is inexcusable for him not to have seen to it that this thing was done properly.
Ben
You are being ridiculous.
Todd Tiahrt, as a Congressman, had no way of knowing that Boeing was doing anything wrong on the Tanker deal.
You seem to want it both ways. You beat up Todd Tiahrt, for trying hard on the Tanker deal — yet you seem very happy with giving the contract to Airbus!
well Todd did claim like six years ago that he had brought all these new tanker jobs to Kansas, havent seen any yet. And a large number of Boeing exec went to prison over this tanker deal.
PaulTheCon – Todd constantly bragged about his connections at Boeing, having been employed there in the very department involved.
Paul – as an American taxpayer I want the best deal we can get. If that is Boeing fine. If it is Northrop’s KC-30 that is also fine. I find it interesting that you are fine with Boeing trying to get it through corrupt practices – practices that landed execs in jail.
Tell me Paul – why is it so important to you that it go to Boeing? Personal self-interest perhaps? Like Todd?
Ben
Boeing has great experience, in this area, and has done a good job, in the past.
Actually, I thought the reason stated, by McCain, for not liking the last deal, was the lease financing arrangement, not the quality of the craft.
Yes, Ben, there is some self interest involved. I want Wichita to benefit, don’t you?
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