Russians may bid on Air Force tanker deal

CNN:

A new twist in the Air Force's 10-year effort to build an aerial refueling tanker may bring a bid from a Russian state-owned aerospace company for the $35 billion tanker contract, according to the company's U.S. attorney.

The company, United Aircraft Corporation will create a joint venture between a still to be announced U.S. contract company and UAC-America, according to John C. Kirkland, a Los Angeles, California-based lawyer representing UAC. Kirkland would not identify the American partner.

...

The Russian-American joint venture would be based in Los Angeles, Kirkland said, but he said the aircraft could be built anywhere in the country.

Kirkland said the aircraft the company would put forward is based on the Russian Ilyushin Il-96, a four-engine commercial airliner.

Also on Friday, European aircraft maker EADS said it remains interested in bidding the tanker contract despite its U.S. partner, Northrop-Grumman, dropping out of the competition earlier this month.

...

The competition is getting interesting, but I suspect Boeing is still the favorite to build a tanker for the Air Force. I am not aware of the dependability of the Ilyushin Il-96. In general Russian technology has lagged that of the US.

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