New York : A Russian company said on Friday it plans to enter a bid to build a new aerial refuelling tanker for the US Air Force, adding yet another twist to the long-running saga of the Pentagon's attempts to award one its biggest and most controversial weapons contracts.
United Aircraft, a holding company for several Russian aerospace firms, is expected to announce tomorrow a joint venture with an American defence contractor, according to John Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based lawyer representing the group. Kirkland would not name the US contractor, saying only that it is "not one of the three or four major defence companies". United Aircraft's biggest shareholder is the Russian government, Kirkland said.
The announcement of the Russians' entry into the contest comes 11 days after Northrop Grumman dropped out of bidding for the $40-billion (Dh146.8-billion) contract.
Northrop had partnered with Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) to compete against Chicago-based Boeing. But Northrop said it felt that the competition favoured Boeing's smaller 767 aircraft.
The United Aircraft announcement was reported on the Wall Street Journal's website on Friday.
Joint venture
The Russians' joint venture, which is to be called UAC America, will offer the Ilyushin Il-96 wide-body jetliner, Kirkland said, adding that most of the planes would be fabricated in Russia and assembled in the United States. Kirkland said the partners would probably approach officials in Mobile, Alabama, where the Northrop and EADS partnership had planned to build a manufacturing facility for its tanker.
On Friday, EADS said it was requesting a three-month extension of the May 10 bidding deadline because it was considering submitting a bid on its own.
Complicated history
The tanker deal has a long, complicated history.
In 2004, Boeing lost the deal to build the tanker after an ethics scandal. In 2008, EADS won the contract, but Boeing fought back and had the award nullified. The Pentagon restarted the bidding process last year.
"Nobody in the Western Hemisphere uses their equipment," said Loren Thompson, a defence industry consultant, referring to United Aircraft. He said it would be "very difficult" for the Pentagon to buy the Russians' tanker because "there's no training manuals, no spare parts supplies and no maintenance personnel or pilot experience."
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defence Department "remains committed to a fair and open competition and welcomes proposals from all qualified offerers."
