Vereinigte Arab. Emirates
Die UAE Air Force wollen sich drei A.330MRTT anschaffen.
Mir stellt sich nur die Frage was will diese Luftwaffe mit Tanker?? Die UAEAF verlegt doch sehr sehr selten ins Ausland??:?! :?!
UAEAF Signs Tanker Aircraft MOU with EADS
19-02-2007
By RIAD KAHWAJI, ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates
In a surprise announcement, United Arab Emirates officials declared that the
country's Air Force and Air Defense Command has picked the Airbus A330
Multi-Role Tanker Transport Aircraft (MRTT) as its preferred choice for a
contract to provide three aerial tankers.
"The UAE Armed Forces has signed today [Feb. 19] a Memo of Understanding
[MOU] with EADS for the tanker aircraft," said Maj.Gen. Obaid Al-Ketbi, the
UAE Armed Forces Chief of Logistics, at a press conference at the
International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX-07) in Abu Dhabi.
The selection was the second Middle East victory in a week for the Airbus
aircraft, and the second loss for Boeing's KC-767.
Ketbi said the value of the deal would be negotiated in the coming months.
"This is just an MOU and not the final deal with EADS," said Ketbi. "If
negotiations with [Airbus parent] EADS proceed successfully we will sign
with them, but if for any reason these talks fail then we will move to our
second choice, Boeing."
Ketbi's announcement surprised officials at both companies. EADS officials
appeared to be unaware of the announcement by the UAE or the signing of the
agreement.
"We would rather wait and see this on paper," said an EADS official.
This is the second setback for the Boeing KC-767 in the past couple of
weeks.
On Feb. 12, officials at French Ministry of Defense announced a contract
with Saudi Arabia for two A330 MRTTs. Although French officials later
retracted the announcement, saying that deal was still under negotiations,
officials at Boeing and EADS acknowledged that the MRTT had won the bid.
"I can't imagine why any customer right now, with the U.S. Air Force in its
final stages with that [tanker] program, would not wait six months to see
where that goes," said Jeff Johnson, Vice President of Boeing IDS Middle
East. "It's a potential 180-plus airplanes, and you know the logistics chain
alone to support those airplanes will lower the cost significantly."
Johnson said an hour before Ketbi's press conference that if customers in
the region had an immediate need for a tanker "there are KC-135 aircraft
available that we can bring in and use for training and for refueling
capability until the USAF program is declared, and we are confident we will
win it."
He said that the USAF is actively marketing excess KC-135 aircraft, which
could be used by customers who have an immediate need for air refueling
capabilities. But Johnson did not specify whether the USAF would want to
lease or sell its KC-135s.
Many Boeing officials and experts had said the USAF indecision on its future
tanker platform had affected customers worldwide, who have become impatient
with the lengthy selection process.
Boeing KC-767 is competing for the USAF deal against the A330 (KC-30),
offered jointly by EADS and Northrop Grumman.
