Gates Kills Air Force Tanker Program

By Marcus Weisgerber / September 10, 2008 at 5:00 AM
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers this morning that the Pentagon has terminated a $35 billion effort to replace the Air Force's KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. The announcement came during a House Armed Services Committee hearing. The decision comes as a huge win for Boeing who has argued that its KC-767 proposal could not compete with a Northrop Grumman offer of a tanker variant of the larger Airbus A330, which could carry more fuel. Gates decided that the "best course...

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