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EADS North America will bid for Air Force tanker contract

EADS North America announced on Tuesday that it plans to bid on the U.S. Air Force\'s tanker modernization program.

Federal News Network Staff

April 20, 2010 4:26 pm

< a min read

WASHINGTON — EADS North America announced on Tuesday that it plans to bid on the U.S. Air Force’s tanker modernization program.

In a press release, the company said it will submit a proposal on July 9, 2010 and will offer its KC-45 to the USAF.

“The KC-45 is the only aircraft flying today that meets the U.S. Air Force’s tanker requirements as outlined in its KC-X Request for Proposal (RFP). The KC-45 builds on the EADS-based tanker that was previously selected in 2008 by the Department of Defense and that has won the last five consecutive tanker competitions worldwide,” said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr.

Up until Tuesday, Boeing was the only announced bidder for what is expected to be a 179-plane order.

In March, EADS and Northrop Grumman dropped out of the bid, claiming that the terms of the deal had been redesigned to favor Boeing.

As Federal News Radio told you then, this is the third round of competition for the contract, which has been bouncing back and forth between competitors for years.