The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
Get ready for the tanker wars, part two.
Airbus SE is teaming up with Lockheed Martin Corp. to take on Boeing Co.’s troubled aerial tanker with an American-made version of the European company’s A330 jetliner. The wide-body plane was at the heart of a proposal that first beat, then on appeal lost out to, Boeing’s KC-46 tanker in a Pentagon decision cloaked in patriotism and controversy more than a decade ago.
If Airbus and Lockheed win the expected contest for the next phase to overhaul the U.S. tanker fleet, Airbus pledges to add an assembly line for A330 jets at its factory in Mobile, Alabama. They would be the first twin-aisle aircraft to be assembled at the manufacturing hub, which was created in the wake of the earlier competition.