Military Procurement International Vol. 19, No. 7, April 1, 2009
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FRANCE
AirTanker in talks with French Air Force
The British AirTanker consortium has had “quite a lot of dialogue with the French to help them to understand what we’ve done on the RAF program and to see how it would, or would not, help them,” according to AirTanker’s Chief Executive Phillip Blundell.
Under a 27-year, £13 billion Private Finance Initiative (PFI), the EADS UK-led consortium is contracted to provide the Royal Air Force with up to 14 Airbus Military A300-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft from 2011 (MPI April 15, 2008, page 10).
The French Air Force currently operates 14 ageing Boeing KC-135 tankers and the Airbus Military A300 MRTT is seen as the leading candidate to replace them from 2015. Blundell said “I get the sense that the French are getting ready to make a decision, at least on the procurement methodology if not necessarily the timescale.”
Pete Scoffham, Airbus Military’s Head of Defence Capability Marketing, says that, while the PFI route is available should the French want it, “we’d prefer them not to, as it is extremely complex.”