Lockheed selects Alabama and Georgia for next-gen air tanker plants (updated)

KC Co

31/01/2022 15:40

(Adds background on tankers)
    By Mike Stone
    WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin  LMT.N 
announced on Monday that a future Air Force mid-air refueling
tanker would be made in Alabama and Georgia, potentially
creating 1,300 new jobs between the two sites.
    Expansion and hiring at existing sites in Mobile, Alabama,
and Marietta, Georgia, for the next U.S. tanker is contingent
upon the award, which is expected in late 2024 or in 2025, Larry
Gallogly, director of the LMXT program for Lockheed Martin 
Aeronautics, told reporters on Monday.
    In June the U.S. Air Force began surveying the aircraft
industry to learn if another manufacturer had the capacity or
interest to make the next tranche of mid-air refueling tankers
similar to the recently purchased KC-46. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2NZ076
    Lockheed has teamed up with France's Airbus  AIR.PA  in the
contest, which uses an Airbus commercial plane as the basis for
the tanker.
    The Air Force has sought to replace hundreds of
Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers still in service in three lots.
The first tranche was the Boeing-made  BA.N  KC-46 Pegasus which
has been plagued by performance challenges including defects
with an on-board video system and the boom that connects the
tanker to aircraft seeking refueling. 
    The Air Force's June announcement kicked off the competition
for the second tranche of 140 to 160 jets which would follow the
Boeing contract to produce 179 KC-46 Pegasus. Boeing is
competing for that second tranche as well. And a third tranche
is expected to be announced in the 2030s 
    Airbus won a $35 billion contract in 2008 to build tankers
for the U.S. Air Force. But the deal was overturned amid
political pressure and the Air Force re-ran the competition,
which Boeing ultimately won for 179 of its 767-based tankers.

 (Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama and Mark Porter)
 ((mike.stone1@thomsonreuters.com; https://twitter.com/MichaelStone;))