It is the only contender that can use the existing infrastructure. It is not much bigger than the KC-135 and that is the important part. Ramp space is limited at many forward operating bases for the tanker fleet.

Very hard to guess which did not fail. There are reasons why each one should not have failed.

That’s a lot of ifs. How many of them do you reckon are actually likely.

I doubt that all will come together and then there would still be the option of the fat Herc. So in the end I think it is very unlikely that the US will buy the A400M. In fact lockheed and Boring would have to **** of the US armed forces and politicans nearly completely for the A400M to become an option.

Yup.

How long do you think it will be before Boeing or Airbus build dedicated freighter versions of the 787/350?

Considering that Airbus has no plans for a A330-300F and that they are working on plans for freighter conversions of existing A332 and A333, I doubt it will be that many. Surely not enough to keep a whole factory running on that orders alone.

Only makes sense if they have the guaranteed orders for the line. No point building an assembly plant if there is nothing needing assembling.
It is to the advantage of both Airbus and the US economy that the tankers are built in America.

I’ve said before, Airbus have been looking into the dollar market for quite some time. This is their chance to do it without getting it in the back from the French/German govts.

If Airbus gets the contract and decides to built them in the US, it is ok. But they should not be forced to built them in the US. It should be up to them where they built them, they only need to deliver on time and for the fixed price. If the factory in the US makes it easier for them, so be it, if it does not, then they should built itwhere they want. (France, Spain – whatever)

actually, the factory would be commercially viable for EADS for the tankers alone (we’re talking about a $35 billion contract, it’s not “just a few airframes”)… and, the airframes besides the tankers would be a “plus”, for EADS (built in “dollar zone”, their price would be more stable on international market than coming from “euro zone”) as for the US economy (more airframes produced bringing more work).. while boeings proposal is for tankers alone, since it proposes an airframe that is from an aircraft nobody buys anymore (767) – the boeing factory would build the tankers and that’s all…

Do you think there will be many A330 sold, after the tankers are built and 5 years after A350 and 7 years after 787 are in production?

And the factory only made sense for EADS beacuse the factory in Moblie would have been getting lots of money from the state for building it.

If it all about getting the USAF the best tanker for the lowest price Airbus should be free to built them were they like and not find a use for a factory in the US. Considering that the A340 series is dead, when it comes to new orders, the line should be able to built the tankers.

For me it is a simple question. either the US is serious about buying from allied nations or it is not. If it is not serious, than they should give the contract to Boeing, if they are serious then the money that owuld have been used to built the factory in Mobile (and all the state money that will go to NG/EADS for building it) could be better used on purchasing planes the USAF needs.

Did anybody believe that it a commercialy viable option to have a factory building soley A330F after the tankers were built? I don´t. And I am sure building them on the exisiting line would be cheaper as well.

Now, could you try to counter what i´ve wrote in the first place? How in the hell did they shoot down four Typhoons in one single flight with four SARH AAM´s? Nice PK…

If Typhoons were simulating the same type of missile the better radar and EWR suite of the Rafale gives them enhanced situational awareness and could be more then enough to dominate Typhoons that clearly.

We know that the can launch Mica without using the radar and many other tricks, no other aircraft is able to do.

Boeing will deliver on time and within the price it promises. the KC-767 will also perform better than expected. there is no need to draw out the competition anymore. KC-767 has always been what the USAF wanted.