Washington Buzz: 767 Tanker Deal Will Wait Until Fall | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.12.25

Airborne-NextGen-05.13.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.14.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-05.15.25

AirborneUnlimited-05.16.25

Mon, May 10, 2004

Washington Buzz: 767 Tanker Deal Will Wait Until Fall

Rumsfeld Puts Boeing Tanker Report On Hold

Boeing's hopes for a big sale of modified 767s to replace the aging KC-135 tanker will reportedly be on hold until at least November.

The Wichita Eagle reports a critical report on the Pentagon's investigation into the tanker deal was supposed to have been green-lighted by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week.

But with the Iraq prisoner abuse investigation calling him to Capitol Hill last week, the secretary had other things to deal with.

The Eagle reports Rumsfeld got a briefing on the Pentagon's report last Monday, but made no decision to release the report -- much less go ahead on a deal for the lease/purchase of 100 767-200s from Boeing.

"Sooner or later both the military and the Congress are going to have to come to a conclusion," said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS). He's quoted as a supporter of the $23.5 billion program for the Air Force to lease 20, then buy 80 tankers.

Boeing fired its chief financial officer, Michael Sears, and former USAF Assistant Deputy Secretary-turned Boeing VP Darleen Runyun, after learning that the two had talked about a lucrative job for Runyun even as she headed the Air Force's tanker negotiation team.

During those negotiations, Boeing successfully got the Air Force to drop 19 of 26 objectives for the new-generation tanker, including the ability to refuel more than one aircraft at a time. Airbus reportedly met 20 of the 26 objectives right off the bat, but still lost the competition.

Last week, Boeing put an ad in several newspapers, including the Wichita Eagle, pushing the conclusion of the tanker deal and chiding those who argue against it. In response, Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, wrote, "This costly lease proposal has had little to do with helping the nation's fighting men and women, and everything to do with padding the bottom line of an already prosperous defense contractor."

Some members of Congress, which has already okayed the tanker deal, are getting frustrated -- Sen. Roberts among them.

"We need to figure this out," he told the Eagle.

FMI: www.boeing.com

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.16.25)

Aero Linx: International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA) IFATCA is the recognised international organisation representing air traffic controller associ>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.16.25)

“The BlackBird is more than a demonstrator—it’s a flying testbed for the future of aviation. To see it take flight in such a short time is a testament to our team>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.16.25): Glideslope Intercept Altitude

Glideslope Intercept Altitude The published minimum altitude to intercept the glideslope in the intermediate segment of an instrument approach. Government charts use the lightning >[...]

Airborne-NextGen 05.13.25: Merlin Tests, Dronetag Accuses, Flying Car?

Also: MQ-9B UAS MTC, FlightSimExpo, New JPL Director, Japanese Lunar Lander Preps Merlin’s flight testing campaign continues to rapidly progress with its certification-ready >[...]

Classic Aero-TV: Jabiru's New J170-D - An Upgraded and Fine-tuned LSA

From 2017 (YouTube Edition): The Airplane From Down Under Is A Proven Trainer… Jabiru was one of the early light sport aircraft (LSA) brought into the U.S.A. when the sport >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC