Tanker specs won't improve technology

European Aeronautic Defense and Space said Tuesday that the Air Force’s latest specifications for an aerial tanker will not yield significant technological improvements over the current tanker fleet. Sean O’Keefe, head of EADS North America, says the current draft request for proposals is not a modernization program, just a replacement program. (Source: New York Times, 01/12/10) Meanwhile, the CEO of Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security Systems Division, said the company is well positioned to meet the demands of a fixed-price contract, even though the company doesn’t like a fixed-price contract. (Source: Defense News, 01/11/10) EADS and partner Northrop Grumman, which want to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala., have threatened to withdraw from the contest if the RFP is not changed from the current version, which they say favors the smaller plane being offered by Boeing.