EADS/Airbus have not yet informed the Defense Department if it will bid on the KC-X tanker contract, and they better do so soon, Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said Thursday. Speaking at an Aerospace Industries Association-sponsored event in the US Capitol, Lynn said that the Pentagon will need some notice “sufficiently ahead of May 10,” the deadline for tanker bid submissions, if the company expects to be accommodated in its request for an extension of the filing deadline. “I think they’re on the verge of a decision,” Lynn said. “I think we’ll know quite soon.”
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.