Airbus Wins Big in US Tanker War, But Loses at Home

The KC-X tanker programme was one of the largest defence contracts in US history, worth roughly $35 billion for 179 new tankers to replace the ageing KC-135 fleet. In a stunning upset on a leap day, February 29, 2008, Northrop Grumman and EADS were chosen over Boeing to build the A330-based tanker, dubbed the KC-45A.

The victory was short-lived, as Boeing protested the decision and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld their protest six months later, citing 'significant errors' in the evaluation process. Defence Secretary Robert Gates cancelled the competition entirely in September 2008, handing the issue over to the next administration.

Seven years after the original programme was launched, the Air Force finally awarded the contract to Boeing's KC-46A Pegasus, which had bid aggressively low on a fixed-price development contract. However, the programme has been plagued by technical issues and delays, including a full redesign of its Remote Vision System.

Meanwhile, the A330 MRTT has become a global export success, chosen by over a dozen air forces around the world, including Australia, the UK, France, and Saudi Arabia. The tanker war may have been lost in America, but it won nearly everywhere else.