And the Tanker Saga Continues………

It's official

There was much hemming and hawing, but the Pentagon offered a 60 day extension for EADS to make the the bid, which will will slip the award of the contract to some time next year and French President Nicolas "Bling Bling" Sarkozy leaned on them to make the bid, so EADS moved forward.

They have entered into entered into negotiations with L-3 as a key supplier, which is basically a way for them to put a bit of a US front on the program tanker.

So, EADS has decided to go it alone, without a US partner, and bid for the contract.

I think that a lot of this is really about maintaining a presence, so as to keep lines of communication open with the members of Congress and the Pentagon staff for future bids, but as Stephen Trimble notes, they do seem to be doing their best to play to win, as evidenced by the talking points they are sending out to Congress, which are a harsh slam of Boeing, noting the fact that their plane is flying, and works, while Boeing's proposal is not flying, and that the 767 tankers sold to the Italians and Japanese still have issues with their hose and drogue systems.

Because the new contract gives very little in the way of credit for exceeding the basic requirements, this means that their best chance to win this is to show that Boeing cannot be expected to fulfill a contract on time and on budget.

Considering Boeing's record, this is probably true, but considering EADS' record **cough** A400M **cough**, it is also true for them.