Boeing files tanker bid

Boeing submitted its 8,000-page proposal Friday to build tankers for the Air Force, and said it was changing the production line of its 767 jets to cut costs and better compete. The Boeing bid was submitted a day after competitor EADS, parent of Airbus, submitted its bid. Also on Friday, latecomer US Aerospace and partner Antonov submitted a bid. A press release said the planes each will cost $150 million. The $35 billion contract is to build 179 planes to replace Eisenhower-era KC-135s. The Air Force has a tanker fleet of over 400. Boeing wants to build tankers in Everett, Wash., and EADS wants to assemble its modified A330 in Mobile, Ala. The US Aerospace-Antonov planes, AN-112KC jets, would be built in the Ukraine and modified at an unspecified site in the United States. (Sources: Multiple, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Business Wire via MarketWatch, 07/09/10)