Roberts, Tiahrt reach tanker deal with the Air Force

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) have struck a deal with the Air Force to base some of its new mid-air refueling tankers at the McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas — just a few weeks before the service is expected to pick a winner in a fierce $40 billion competition.

Boeing is facing off with a Northrop Grumman-EADS North America team, which is offering the Airbus 330, to win the contract for about 179 new tankers, or KC-X.

{mosads}Tiahrt, a defense appropriator, and Roberts, former chairman of the Intelligence Committee, are some of Boeing’s strongest congressional supporters in the competition. Boeing will put the finishing touches on the new tanker at its Wichita facility, located in Tiahrt’s district.

After months of discussions, Tiahrt and Roberts reached an agreement with Gen. Michael Moseley, the Air Force chief of staff, to bring a portion of the next-generation tankers to the base in their state. Kansas’s other GOP senator, Sam Brownback, was also part of the discussions.

The McConnell Air Force Base was expected to receive new tankers down the line anyway, but the commitment from Moseley means that Kansas will receive some of the first new tankers earlier than initially expected.

McConnell is the only so-called “Supertanker” base in the middle of the country, and the decision to base the KC-X there is separate from any contract award decision, said Sam Sackett, Tiahrt’s spokesman.

The base will receive the winning plane regardless of whether it is the KC-X based on the Boeing 767 or the Airbus 330.

The base is strategically located, Sackett added.

Just as lawmakers are throwing their weight behind the tanker competitors, they are also pressing the Air Force to consider their states and bases as potential homes for the new plane.

The Air Force is still in the process of making basing decisions. Other contenders are Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D.; MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; and Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash.

Last week, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) said in a press release that the Air Force is reviewing a plan to equip the Maine Air National Guard with the KC-X.

“Basing the new KC-X airplane in Bangor with the Maine Air National Guard definitely is the right approach,” she said.
The Air National Guard conducts approximately 45 percent of all refueling missions.

Meanwhile, the pending contract award decision for the new tanker competition is expected to galvanize congressional supporters.

The competition has split Congress into two supporting camps, with the Kansas and Washington delegations in particular supporting Boeing. The Alabama delegation is rooting for the Northrop Grumman-EADS team, which has promised to bring 1,000 jobs to Mobile, Ala., if it wins.