VC-10/Tristar replacement

Hi,

Phil foster suggested in his “More C-17’s for the RAF”-thread that we could have a sepparate thread on the Tanker competition.

Personally, I have no preference…I just hope that the RAF gets a good deal and I’ll be sad to see the VC-10 and Tristar retire.
In the AFM article it is said that the “peferred bidder” will be annnounced in December 2003 and that the contract will be awarded in November 2004.
Does anyone know what that means? Is the “preferred bidder” the winner, or could the decision be changed between Dec 03 and Nov 04?
Why is there such a long time between the the announcement and the signing of the contract?

Best regards, Transall.