New KC-X material ONLY

Another try at keeping up with NEW developments of KC-X. If someone tries to bait you into bringing up an old chestnut, just ignore it

There have been several postings on the fbo site that I had missed

Q&A Oct 30
Q&A Nov 10
Q&A Nov 13
DRFP Addendum Nov 18
Q&A Nov 18

In general the questions have gone from more ‘political’ to more technical (tons of CMARPS questions from both sides) as time has gone on

The Nov 13 Q&A is obviously from Boeing and extensively questions the lack of consideration for the preliminary WTO ruling.

But there was one interesting tidbit.

One of the problems with the KC-30 bid last time related to whether it was fast enough for certain maneuvers.

This raised a question in my mind because one of the ‘fixes’ Boeing did for the WARP flutter problem was to reduce max speed.

And sure enough in the Nov 13 Q&A (page 24) they ask if they can meet the boom refuelling speed requirements WITHOUT the WARPs installed.

The government said no, so this could be a serious problem for Boeing

Boeing again tries to get the 1200GPM requirement changed arguing that the stated justification (C-5 ability) is incorrect (only 1075GPM) and that besides the C-17 can take 1235GPM, so why 1200?

AF responds that the 1235GPM figure in one document is incorrect and that the actual numbers are C-17 (1176GPM) and VC-25 (1176GPM) and thus the 1200GPM requirement won’t be changed

also, Amy Butler speculates in Tanker: The Delays Are Beginning that the final RFP will be delayed (surprise)