Pentagon May Revise Aerial Tanker Plans

The Pentagon is considering cheaper alternatives to replace its fleet of aerial refueling tankers after a $23-billion plan to lease and buy as many as 100 Boeing Co. 767s was delayed by a conflict-of-interest probe.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a letter dated March 17 that “no single option is favored at this moment and any suggestion to the contrary is flat wrong.” Rumsfeld also referred McCain, the most vocal critic in Congress of the Boeing plan, to a study of current and future aerial refueling needs by a task force of the independent Defense Science Board.

“At a minimum, the task force should assess the acquisition of new aircraft, modification of used aircraft to perform the aerial refueling mission and development of unmanned aerial vehicles as an aerial refueling tanker,” Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz wrote in the Feb. 1 directive.

Rumsfeld’s letter to McCain is the most explicit government statement to date that other options are being considered. The Pentagon ordered a review of the agreement after revelations that former Boeing Chief Financial Officer Michael Sears offered a job to Darleen Druyun, the official negotiating the deal for the Air Force, during contract talks.

Boeing fired Sears and Druyun in November.