Stewart Penney/LONDON
The UK Ministry of Defence has put back the next stage of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft competition by three months as it strives to evaluate the information submitted by four consortia bidding for the Private Finance Initiative programme.
The 30-year FSTA contract is potentially worth £9 billion ($13.5billion). About 30 aircraft are needed to replace the Royal Air Force's 26 BAC VC10s and nine Lockheed TriStars.
The MoD says invitations to negotiate (ITN) will be issued in November instead of August because it is still evaluating the four bids. It insists that the rest of the programme remains on track, with responses to the ITN expected to be returned in May next year.
Competitors expect a downselect to a preferred bidder, or possibly two, in August next year, with a contract to be signed in early 2002. FSTA service entry is planned for 2004.
Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has dropped out of the EuroTanker consortium to concentrate on its own Air Reach proposal. Other bidders are Strategic Support Management, a Serco/Spectrum Capital venture offering ex-British Airways Boeing 767s, and BAE Systems teamed with Raytheon, proposing various Airbus platforms and EuroTanker which includes Brown & Root, FRAviation and Thomson-CSF.
EuroTanker programme director Peter Crowle says the consortium continues to offer "a platform independent solution" based on either the Airbus A330-200 or the 767. He says the bid uses new aircraft as they are equipped with the latest digital avionics standards, which offers the potential to manage changing needs over the 30 years, and gives the airframes sufficient life for the contract.
Crowle says the A330 is better suited for the tanking role because of its common wing with the four-engined Airbus A340. The wing retains the additional structure for the outboard engine, providing a suitable mounting point for the hose drum. Also, the trailing edge has a gap in the high-lift surfaces - to allow mounting of the outboard powerplant - which means the hose can be fed out past a non-moving part of the wing.
• The UK defence budget is to increase from £23 billion ($34.3 billion) this year to £25 billion in 2004, the first rise in real terms for 10 years. This will help pay for the changes required after the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, which cut defence spending.
Source: Flight International
