February 25, 2011 - Air Force and Defense Department officials announced the award of an engineering and manufacturing development contract valued at more than $3.5 billion for the KC-46A aerial refueler to The Boeing Company on Thursday.

Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley said in the briefing that many factors were evaluated during the tanker selection process. (See Sen. Shelby Alarmed French Company Not Awarded KC-46 Contract)

"This selection process determined whether or not the proposals demonstrated the ability of an offerer to deliver all 372 mandatory requirements and whether non-mandatory capabilities would be addressed," said Secretary Donley, emphasizing that both offerers met the mandatory requirements.

While the focus of the briefing was on the award of the contract, Secretary Donley addressed basing considerations for the aircraft, stating that those decisions involve other organizations and will take place over the next couple of years. Secretary Donley also reiterated the service's commitment to provide quality equipment to the warfighter. 

"To the men and women of our Air Force, today's announcement represents a long-overdue start to a much-needed program," Secretary Donley said. "Your Air Force leadership, supported by Dr. (Ashton) Carter and others throughout the Department of Defense, is determined to see this through, and we will stand behind this work." 

Air Force and DOD officials complemented both offerers and thanked congressional oversight committees and their staffs for working with the department during the contract process that served the warfighter and taxpayers well. EADS North America officials expressed disappointment and concern over the announcement by the U.S. Air Force that it had selected ?a high-risk, concept aircraft over the proven, more capable KC-45 for the nation?s next aerial refueling tanker? said EADS. 

?This is certainly a disappointing turn of events, and we look forward to discussing with the Air Force how it arrived at this conclusion,? said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr. ?For seven years our goal has been to provide the greatest capability to our men and women in uniform, and to create American jobs by building the KC-45 here in the U.S. We remain committed to those objectives.? If selected, EADS North America had committed to build the KC-45 at a new production facility in Mobile, Alabama, with a U.S. supplier base of nearly a thousand American companies.