Enter Antonov: America's Tanker Competition Gets Weird

When the US Air Force awarded the contract for a KC-135 air refueling tanker replacement to European company EADS, American aircraft manufacturer Boeing went crazy. They brought out the lawyers and argued that although the EADS Airbus A330 tanker had out performed the Boeing's B767, the competition was unfair and should be re-accomplished. Boeing wants the criteria for the new tanker adjusted to favor their products. Although I'm not sure they ever said it directly, a large part of their argument seems to be that it's not fair to have a European company providing aircraft on a multi-billion dollar US military contract. EADS, of course, is arguing that they still have the better product and that the US military should select the product that will do the best job of taking care of our troops...no matter where it comes from. I think the argument is pretty stupid and that we're wasting literally years delaying the A330 tanker; however, Boeing got what it wanted and the competition is open again.

I bet they never expected a third company to throw them for a loop though. Ukrainian (formerly Soviet) aircraft manufacturer Antonov has entered the competition with the help of a US partner, US Aerospace. Antonov is submitting proposals for 3 different aircraft, and they may be able to out-perform both competitors. I wonder how Boeing is feeling now about the can of worms they've opened.

According to a US Aerospace press release, their bid is for $150 Million per aircraft. This is significantly cheaper than either of their competitors. A separate press release describes the three aircraft variants they plan to offer. First will be the An-124, an enormous cargo plane similar in size to the USAF C-5 Galaxy. As you can see in the picture below, it dwarfs the C-17 Globemaster. The second aircraft will be an An-122, a 2-engine version of the An-124. The last would be an An-12, an older design roughly equivalent to the USAF C-130 Hercules. This one would be heavily modified and modernized; it might even get jet engines to replace it's four turboprops.

To some (read: Boeing) it would be a major coup for the military to select any foreign aircraft for this contract, let alone a Russian one. Unfortunately, Boeing's arguments might work against them. As noted in a Reuters article quoted by the Moscow Times, Antonov's aircraft have the potential to offer significant benefits over Boeing's or EADS' airliner-based tankers. Antonov's aircraft have large cargo ramps, they have beefy airframes proven in the world's harshest environments, they are all designed to land on dirt runways, and they cost far less. These are all huge bonuses that the competitor's tankers can't possibly offer.

I've also heard rumors that the Antonov aircraft will be able to fly slowly enough to refuel helicopters. The USAF's current jet tankers are incapable of flying that slowly - they leave the job to specially equipped C-130s. If one tanker could meet the needs of fighters, bombers, transports and helicopters, it would make life a lot easier for the military. I've also heard a rumor that the Boeing 767 might not be fast enough to refuel the USAF's fastest jets, while the Antonov is. This would be another huge bonus for Antonov in the competition. If even half of these facts are true, it looks like Boeing will end up very mad that it ever argued that the most capable tanker should be the one selected.

Unfortunately for EADS, their arguments that their tanker will be built in America by Americans won't help it beat the Antonov entries either. Antonov has teamed with a US company and plans to do the major assembly of its tankers in the US. It will be just as much a US tanker as the EADS entry will.

Also, according to UPI.com there may be some consideration in this deal to the fact that Ukraine is a developing country that could use some help. They're pretty dependent on Russia, but would like to be more autonomous. They're definitely the kind of ally that the US could use in that part of the world. Selecting a Ukrainian tanker could potentially be a stroke of diplomatic genius for the US.

So, this third tanker competition is getting stranger all the time. It looked to be an issue of whether Boeing could get the selection criteria changed enough to favor their aircraft over the already selected Airbus 330. Now, there's a second foreign aircraft company in the mix. Those aircraft are definitely cheaper than the Boeing or EADS offerings and may outperform either of their competitors. Neither Boeing or EADS will be able to argue against the Antonov tankers without being very hypocritical. It's going to be a crazy ride and I'm looking forward to watching it!

What do you think? Should the US even consider an x-Soviet transport for their new tanker?