Aircraft

Northrop Grumman believes its KC-30 proposal will "inevitably" switch airframes to the Airbus A330-200F model if its team wins the $40 billion KC-X contract for the US Air Force.

The switch to the freighter model may have the secondary effect of giving KC-30 team member General Electric Aviation a second opportunity to become the third engine supplier for the commercial A330-200F fleet.

“I think [the switch to the Freighter model] is inevitable, but right now it’s not in our proposal,” said Paul Meyer, Northrop’s VP and general manager for the KC-30 programme.

The Northrop/EADS North America team is currently basing its bid on a passenger A330-200 converted to a freighter, which adds a cargo door and localised strengthening to the upper-floor.

That model was chosen because Northrop’s proposal was developed before the A330-200F had received a launch customer, and because the more expensive freighter version would have increased the cost of the original bid, Meyer said.

Now that the A330-200F has found a solid customer base and is further along in development, Northrop believes the dedicated freighter could prove a more attractive candidate to the air force than the converted passenger aircraft.

If Northrop is selected, the possible airframe switch would present a unique opportunity for the team’s current engine supplier. In June, GE disclosed that it would not offer a third engine for the commercial A330-200F programme, leaving the market for the dedicated freighter to Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.

Winning the KC-X contract would mean that the USAF would pay GE to certificate the engine on the freighter.

The Northrop team is competing against the Boeing KC-767-200LRF for the programme to buy 179 aircraft. The USAF currently plans to award the contract by end-year after slipping the award date beyond September.

The larger KC-30 carries more fuel and has more range than the KC-767, but Boeing counters that its smaller airframe would provide the USAF with greater flexibility.

Meyer, however, argues that the KC-30 is the most flexible option. A KC-30 with a maximum fuel load could be supported by 625 airports globally, versus 465 for the KC-767 with a smaller fuel load.