Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Aerospace Daily & Defense Report
March 18, 2008
Pg. 13
Boeing tanker advocates are seizing upon growing concern on Capitol Hill with the U.S. military's large appetite for oil, namely mobility demands under the Air Force, to drive up support for Boeing's losing bid for the Air Force aerial refueling replacement tanker.
A Boeing-backed study that the giant contractor announced March 17 claimed the Air Force would pay $30 billion more in fuel bills over 40 years to operate a fleet of 179 Airbus A330-200 aerial refueling tankers, compared to a similar number of tankers based on the Boeing 767-200ER.
The Air Force, the largest energy consumer in the U.S. government, has estimated before that it pays an additional $600 million a year for each $10 per barrel cost increase.
"We are acutely aware as members of the [House] Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department is the largest consumer of oil in the country," Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) said. "We know that mobility platforms consume the most energy used by the Department, with jet fuel representing nearly 60 percent of fuel consumed by DOD," the energy issue provocateur said March 13.
Meanwhile, the Air Force said March 17 that it plans the first supersonic flight of an aircraft using the 50/50 synthetic fuel blend in coming days. A B-1B will take off from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
"This week's flight will further demonstrate the Air Force's commitment to using alternative fuels and is the next step in the certification process before the fuel can go into widespread use," the service said.
-- Michael Bruno
March 18, 2008
Pg. 13
Boeing tanker advocates are seizing upon growing concern on Capitol Hill with the U.S. military's large appetite for oil, namely mobility demands under the Air Force, to drive up support for Boeing's losing bid for the Air Force aerial refueling replacement tanker.
A Boeing-backed study that the giant contractor announced March 17 claimed the Air Force would pay $30 billion more in fuel bills over 40 years to operate a fleet of 179 Airbus A330-200 aerial refueling tankers, compared to a similar number of tankers based on the Boeing 767-200ER.
The Air Force, the largest energy consumer in the U.S. government, has estimated before that it pays an additional $600 million a year for each $10 per barrel cost increase.
"We are acutely aware as members of the [House] Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department is the largest consumer of oil in the country," Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) said. "We know that mobility platforms consume the most energy used by the Department, with jet fuel representing nearly 60 percent of fuel consumed by DOD," the energy issue provocateur said March 13.
Meanwhile, the Air Force said March 17 that it plans the first supersonic flight of an aircraft using the 50/50 synthetic fuel blend in coming days. A B-1B will take off from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
"This week's flight will further demonstrate the Air Force's commitment to using alternative fuels and is the next step in the certification process before the fuel can go into widespread use," the service said.
-- Michael Bruno