As yet one more salvo in the war of words in the Air Force’s KC-X tanker contest, Boeing said yesterday its 767 commercial airliner is “substantially more fuel efficient” than the larger Airbus A330 and issued a company-funded, yet “independent” study by Conklin & de Decker Aviation Information to prove its point. Using published data to calculate fuel consumption, Boeing said a fleet of 179 767s, the design upon which Boeing’s KC-767 Advanced Tanker is based, would burn “24 percent less fuel” than a fleet of Airbus A330-200 airplanes, the model from which the Northrop Grumman-EADS KC-30 derives, over a 40-year service life. This “would save approximately $14.6 billion in fuel costs,” Boeing said.
The new defense reconciliation bill includes $7.2 billion for Air Force and Navy aviation accounts, almost half of which will buy more F-15EXs. While electronic warfare, drones, connectivity and airlift all get attention, the F-35 was conspicuously absent from the package, with no explanation given.