This Is It... Really. No Kidding. Final Answer.

Boeing announced Thursday it submitted its final KC-767 Advanced Tanker (AT) proposal for the US Air Force's KC-135 Tanker Replacement Program... the latest development in a saga that spans over five years, and one prior awarding of the contract to the planemaker.

"We have completed this KC-X process the way we began it -- by listening to our Air Force customer," said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. "We believe the KC-767 Advanced Tanker will be evaluated as the most capable, technologically advanced and affordable tanker for America."

Boeing calls the final proposal "the culmination of a process that began when Boeing submitted its original proposal in April 2007..." but that's not entirely accurate. Boeing was first awarded the contract to supply a replacement for the aged KC-135 fleet in 2004, in a bid that first began in 2002. That decision was delayed, however, by the Pentagon after it was revealed former USAF chief negotiator Darleen Druyun accepted a job as Boeing vice president before the deal was consummated.

The contract award was later tossed out, and heads rolled at Boeing and within the USAF. The Air Force released the updated RFP for its KC-X deal in January 2007; in addition to the KC-767, a partnership between Northrop Grumman and EADS is also fielding a competitor, the A330-derived KC-30 Tanker.

Boeing says its proposal for the KC-767AT is tailored to meet or exceed all of the Air Force's mission requirements. For example, using ground rules in the KC-X Request for Proposal, nearly twice as many KC-767s can be based on a parking ramp compared to the KC-30 -- which Boeing pointedly calls "oversized."

EADS counters its KC-30 -- a variant of the Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft -- is just that: multi-role, able to handle a variety of duties in addition to aerial refueling. The plane is larger as a result... and, more expensive.

That's not to imply the KC-767 is a lightweight, however. Boeing says its tanker will carry three times more cargo and passengers than the KC-135 without sacrificing the operational flexibility delivered by a medium-sized aircraft.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.af.mil