Bloß nicht hetzen...
Seattle Post Intelligencer wrote:Thursday, December 1, 2005
Air Force wants tanker flexibility
Craft must carry more than fuel, service chief says
By TONY CAPACCIO
BLOOMBERG NEWS
Competition for the contract to build a new aerial refueling tanker likely won't start until 2007, because the Air Force wants a plane that can carry cargo, reconnaissance sensors and troops as well as fuel, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said Wednesday.
"I think 2006 is still going to be a development year," Wynne said in an interview in his Pentagon office. "Tankers are not only tankers any more. They are going to be multimission aircraft."
The Boeing Co., a team of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (the parent of Airbus) and Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp. have announced plans to seek the contract.
Wynne's remarks are the latest update on efforts to revive the tanker program. They indicate that the Air Force is eyeing expanded missions for its flying gas stations to maximize their use as budget pressures threaten cuts in other programs.
An earlier, $23 billion program to replace the aging tanker fleet with leased Boeing 767s was canceled in October 2004 after the Air Force's former No. 2 procurement official and Boeing's ex-chief financial officer were convicted of violating conflict-of-interest laws during contract talks.
The tanker replacement program remains on hold while Pentagon weapon-buying chief Ken Krieg continues to review a RAND Corp. study that assessed alternatives to buying a new tanker fleet, Wynne said.
Wynne has established a new position aimed at restoring Air Force credibility after the tanker scandal. A deputy assistant secretary for acquisition governance and transparency will monitor the new program and ensure that all weapons acquisitions are fully explained to Congress, the media and the public.
Ken Miller, a member of the Senior Executive Service who for nine years managed overall operations for the Naval Air Systems Command, was named to the job Nov. 8. He will work with Air Force public affairs officials and other service agencies to ensure that even the most mundane steps of major acquisitions -- and especially the tanker program -- are disclosed and thoroughly explained, Wynne said.
"We will start telling people why we do things" in "what we all consider a 'routine' procurement system," Wynne said. "Let's not have it be a secret. Let's tell people what we are doing and when we are doing it."
The Air Force said in February that it had set aside $552 million between fiscal 2007 and 2011 for research and $8.58 billion to start buying the planes, used to refuel bombers, fighters and other aircraft in the air.
The Air Force has 531 KC-135 tankers with an average age of about 44 years and 59 larger KC-10 tankers with an average age of 20.5 years, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service said in a Sept. 23 report.
About 150 of the KC-135s and 33 KC-10s supported the invasion of Iraq, flying more than 6,000 sorties and unloading more than 300 million pounds of fuel, the report said.
Wynne said that, based on additional study, the Air Force now sees an expanded role for its tankers.
"There's lot of room to carry stuff," Wynne said. "A lot of airplanes we are considering -- whether big ones or small ones -- seem to have extra space."
Boeing's 767 tanker, for example, can be configured to carry cargo, passengers or a combination of both. The Italian air force has ordered four of these tankers configured to carry both freight and passengers as well as fuel. The first plane will be delivered in April.
Wynne said the new plane would not be "just a tanker replacement per se." He added: "Yes, we do want it to carry fuel and have people take fuel off, but it also means we want it to carry cargo, and we want it to be a 'smarter' aircraft and carry a communications node if it does orbits over the world."
"My guess is that things will be a little more evident in the spring," he said. "During 2006, we will be publishing what the schedule is -- so the competitors, the public, Congress see the program unfolding, there are no hidden agendas -- and, yes it's still a wide open competition."
U.S. military budgets are expected to tighten with rising cost for military satellites as well as the growing cost of retirement program and health benefits, Wynne said.
He said he is "kind of struck" by "the growth in personnel cost relative to the growth in program costs," Wynne said. "We are getting more like an industrial concern where the cost of personnel is coming home to roost," he said.
The implications for weapons buying and research programs may be stark because the Pentagon is unlikely in a time of war to cut personnel, operations and maintenance, Wynne said.
The rising cost of military satellite programs such as the Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Space-Based Infrared System-High early warning constellation are adding to budget pressures, Wynne said.
Originalartikel zu finden unter:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/250353_tankers01.htmlFor radar identification, throw your jumpseat rider out the window.
