France eyes 14 interoperable aerial tankers

[tigershark]

France eyes 14 interoperable aerial tankers
 By David Morgan

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) - France tentatively plans to buy about 14 aerial-refueling planes to be able to operate seamlessly with the U.S. tanker fleet, the French defense attache in Washington D.C. said on Wednesday.

"We want to make sure we can have any type of fighter refueling on a French tanker and French fighters refueling on any type of tanker," Major General Gratien Maire told reporters at a breakfast session.

Updating of the U.S. Air Force tanker fleet is the subject of a transatlantic battle pitting Europe's EADS (EAD.PA) Airbus unit against its U.S. arch-rival Boeing Co (BA.N).

Maire said France would issue a request for information from potential suppliers for about 14 tankers. There was no timetable yet for the purchase nor any decision on how to evaluate bids, he said.

Among potential suppliers are Airbus, headquartered in Toulouse, France, and Boeing, headquartered in Chicago.

EADS, partnered with Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N), won a potential $35 billion deal in February 2008 to build 179 tankers for the U.S. Air Force. But the deal was canceled by the Pentagon after federal auditors upheld a Boeing challenge.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to try again this summer to start replacing the U.S. Air Force's KC-135 tanker fleet, with planes averaging nearly 50 years old.

The first U.S. effort to replace its tankers, rooted in the post-Sept. 11 collapse of the commercial airliner market, ended amid a procurement scandal that sent two senior Boeing officials, one of them a former top Air Force buyer, to prison for conflict-of-interest violations. (Reporting by David Morgan, writing by Jim Wolf; Editing by Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Source
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2943545620090429?sp=true

[tigershark]

I can't see the French buying Boeing no matter what so I don't really get the point of this, just order the A330 and be done with it. 

"We want to make sure we can have any type of fighter refueling on a French tanker and French fighters refueling on any type of tanker," Major General Gratien Maire told reporters at a breakfast session.

See the French do care about Americans. 

A330-200 Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) - Multi-Role Tanker Transporter (MRTT), Europe
http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/a330_200/

[Webmaster]

The point is probably that the law requires it. Even though they operate Boeing tankers now, I don't think they have any chance competing as long as Sarkozy is in power. But since it says "operate seamlessly with the U.S. tanker fleet", I suppose they want EADS to be offering the A330 with NG as subcontractor, as opposed to the one fitted by EADS-CASA (Spain), let alone the A310 MRTT that Germany gets.