Boeing Company has submitted its proposal to the US military for the estimated 40-billion-dollar plan to build 179 new air-refuelling tanker planes, the company said Wednesday, according to dpa. The KC-767s would replace the aging KC-135 aircraft used by the US Air Force. The bid comes a day after the US defence corporation Northrop Grumman submitted its bid for the project in cooperation with EADS, the European European Aeronautic Defence and Space corporation. The Pentagon reopened bidding for the tanker contract several years ago after a deal worth more than 20 billion dollars with Boeing fell through over a scandal involving Boeing executives and Air Force officials and criticism the programme was too costly. The US Air Force is looking to buy as many as 500 new tankers to replace its aging refuelling fleet, at a cost of an estimated 100 billion dollars. EADS is prepared to open a manufacturing plant in Alabama if Northrop wins the bid. A decision by the Pentagon is expected by October. The Boeing consortium includes Smiths Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Vought Aircraft, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and Spirit AeroSystems. Boeing's design for the KC-767 advanced tanker is a new version of the 767-200 long range freighter that could not only carry out air refueling but also move cargo, passengers, patients and medical crew members, the company said. "The KC-767 Advanced Tanker will do for refueling what the C-17 has done for airlift - it will revolutionize mobility operations," said James Albaugh, president and CEO, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems, in a statement. Northrop's proposal is for its KC-30 tanker, which is based on the commercial A330 platform, that would also have the flexibility to transport passengers, cargo and medical personnel and patients. It could also refuel Navy and coalition aircraft, the company said. "The competition to build the KC-X is as much a competition of vision as it is of aircraft," said Scott J Seymour, corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems sector, in a statement on Tuesday.
