So...die Never-Ending-Story hat jetzt wohl doch ein Ende gefunden. EADS hat heute angekündigt, nicht gegen die Vergabe an Boeing zu protestieren.
EADS North America will not protest U.S. Air Force’s aerial refueling tanker selection
Arlington, Virginia, 04 März 2011EADS North America announced today that it will not protest the U.S. Air Force’s selection of the Boeing offering in the competition to replace the service's aging fleet of KC-135 aerial refueling tankers.
The company expressed appreciation to the Air Force for running a competition consistent with the rules set out in its Request for Proposal.
“While we are obviously disappointed that our men and women in uniform are not getting the most capable tanker available, we will not take any action that could further delay the already overdue replacement of the Air Force’s aging tanker fleet,” said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr. “The bid that we submitted was substantially lower than was submitted in the last competition. Our bid reflected a sound business case and offered a reasonable return to our shareholders.”
“We’re also proud that our involvement in the competition resulted in very significant savings to taxpayers,” Crosby said.
EADS North America’s analysis determined that the KC-X bid submitted by The Boeing Company was nearly $16 billion less for 179 aircraft compared to its original tanker lease offer to the Air Force in 2002, when normalized for escalation and differences in aircraft quantities and requirements.
“Much is promised by our competitor, whom we congratulate. However, should they fail to deliver, we stand ready to step in with a proven and operating tanker,” said Crosby.
The U.S. Air Force also confirmed that the EADS North America tanker was judged to be superior in capability to the Boeing offering as measured by the service’s fleet effectiveness rating.
”We’ve competed fiercely and demonstrated once again why we have earned a reputation with the Department of Defense for quality, dependability and professionalism,” said EADS North America CEO Sean O’Keefe. “Now our focus is on future opportunities and our continued growth. This experience has strengthened our position in the U.S. marketplace.”
“We will continue our dialog with the Department of Defense to strengthen our future competitiveness, while also applying relevant lessons learned to the A330 Multi Role Tanker Transports slated for delivery to four U.S. allies,” O’Keefe said.
EADS North America is prime contractor on the Coast Guard’s HC-144A Ocean Sentry maritime patrol aircraft, and the UH-72A Lakota helicopter for the Army and Navy. More than 150 Lakotas have been delivered from the company’s helicopter production center in Columbus, Miss., all on time and on budget.
Quelle: eads.com
Interessant ist, dass, neben den in der Pressemeldung erwähnten 16 Mrd. $ Ersparnis gegenüber dem allerallerersten Boeingangebot, in verschiedenen Medien auch noch weitere, absolute Zahlen herumgeistern:
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Nach Angaben von Crosby lag Boeings Angebot bei 31,5 Milliarden Dollar, während EADS über die gesamte Laufzeit hinweg mit 35 Milliarden Dollar kalkulierte.
...Quelle: focus.de
...
Mr. Crosby said that after the Air Force had worked through its complicated formula to compare the bids and calculate the present value of the eventual cost of the planes, Boeing’s cost figure came in at $20.6 billion compared to $22.6 billion for EADS.
...Quelle: nytimes.com
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Ralph Crosby, chairman of EADS North America said at a press conference that Boeing bid 10 percent lower, offering a total cost of building the tankers of $31.5 billion spread over 17 years, compared to the EADS bid of $35.1 billion.
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According to EADS, the present value of the two bids in today's dollars was calculated as $21.4 billion for Boeing and $23.4 billion for EADS.
...Quelle: seattletimes.nwsource.com
Wenn man sich diese Zahlen so anschaut, dann scheint Boeing wohl definitiv ein sehr aggresives Angebot gemacht zu haben, was mich hinsichtlich möglicher Gewinne/Verluste schon etwas nachdenklich macht. Desweiteren scheint es offensichtlich so, dass nach Berücksichtigung von zukünftigen Kosten wie Treibstoff, Wartung etc. die KC-45 gegenüber der KC-46A sogar recht deutlich aufholen konnte. Ich denke das Angebot von EADS war also sehr ordentlich. Wer dann letztendlich am Ende der wahre Gewinner sein wird, um das zu beurteilen müssen wir wohl noch ein paar Jahre warten. Für die USAF kann man jezt nur hoffen, dass das Programm durch Verzögerungen bei Entwichklung und Bau nicht doch noch zur Never-Ending-Story wird. Zum Abschluss dann hier auch noch ein Zitat aus dem oben verlinkten Artikel der NY Times:
Under the initial contract, Boeing will have to design and build 18 tankers for a fixed price of $3.5 billion by 2017. If the program was on track, it would then negotiate additional fixed-price contracts, worth $30 billion to $35 billion, for up to 161 additional planes.
