A compromise deal to lease 20 then buy 80 Boeing 767-200 tankers is expected to be approved after the US Department of Defense accepted a less costly plan that slows the delivery pace.
Congress is moving to approve the deal as part of the 2004 defense authorisation bill before December, to end a long battle over a US Air Force plan to lease all 100 aircraft.
The amended plan, approved by the US Senate Armed Services Committee on 6 November, is projected to cost $27.6 billion through fiscal year 2017, or $2.2 billion less than the air force's lease-only option.
Despite the overall savings, the funding profile would change dramatically. The Pentagon is to commit an extra $3.8 billion from FY2008-10 and 2012-13 to cover the cost of buying each aircraft upon delivery. The plan also pushes back final deliveries by three years to 2014. Meanwhile, the KC-767A fleet will number 43 in FY2009, not the USAF's hoped-for 60.
Stretching the pace of deliveries may allow the air force to mitigate a problem described in earlier objections to lease/buy deals. Previous air force estimates assuming a 60-aircraft fleet by FY2009 had projected a $10.1 billion cost during the first six years of the programme.
The new proposal adds up to $7.4 billion before FY2009, paying for 20 leased and 23 purchased aircraft.
"Our proposal strikes a necessary balance between the critical need for new air-refuelling tankers and the constraints on our budget," says deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, in a 5 November letter addressed to lawmakers.
Source: Flight International