While Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) aspires to be the vendor in one of Israel's biggest defense procurement programs in the next few years, for fuel tanker aircraft for the Israel Air Force, US aerospace giant Boeing is liable to put a serious obstacle in its way: sources inform "Globes" that Boeing will not grant IAI permits to convert its planes to tanker configuration. Such a restriction means that IAI is liable to find itself out of the running for supplying the Israel Air Force's new tankers, as its proposal is based on buying used Boeing 767 aircraft on the open market and converting them for airborne refueling of combat planes.
Boeing has a clear interest in ousting IAI from the procurement program that has been taking shape at the Ministry of Defense and in the Air Force for a long time, since it is considered the leading candidate for winning the order, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
en.globes.co.il
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