Contract negotiations between Boeing and the US Air Force for a lease of up to 100 Boeing 767 tanker-transports are anticipated to be finalised by late September, the company said at the show yesterday.
The aircraft will be the -200ER model, but with a more advanced cockpit taken from the -400 model and given further upgrades, says John Sams, Boeing's US Air Force 767 tanker programme manager.
A new, open architecture system will allow further upgrades over the anticipated four decades that the aircraft will be in service, while growth provisions will be built in to accommodate the ‘smart tanker' concept when the USAF eventually defines it.
The USAF intends to use the 767 tankers to replace existing KC-135Rs in active duty squadrons, with the replaced aircraft being cascaded down to supplant earlier-model KC-135Es in Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units.
Meanwhile, Sams says Boeing is "very close" to completing negotiations with Italy for four 767 tanker aircraft, with contract signing anticipated in September.
Italy has selected Boeing to provide four 767-200ERs. The first is anticipated to be delivered to Wichita in August 2003, with delivery to the Italian air force in early 2005.
Source: Flight Daily News
