Sunday, February 27, 2011

Tanker victory spells risks for Boeing

Tanker victory spells risks for Boeing: "Boeing's triumph over European rival EADS for a major US Air Force tanker contract poses risks amid defense spending cutbacks and multiple delays to its commercial projects.

The Defense Department declared Thursday Boeing the "clear winner" of a $30-plus billion contract to supply up to 179 refueling tankers to the Air Force.

It is undoubtedly a major prize for the firm, but industry analysts highlighted the challenges that come with submitting what the Chicago-based firm itself called an "aggressive" bid.

"Since the KC-46A is a very competitively bid fixed-price contract for both development and production phases, it carries some execution risks for Boeing," Standard & Poor's analysts said in a client note.

Particularly, they said, "given the company's substantial cost overruns on some of its commercial and military programs in recent years."
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Merchant Vessel Defense Against Pirates





Preemptive Measures Can Prevent Boarding and Hostage Taking



Too often, ship operators fail to take proper anti-piracy security measures, effectively turning their merchant vessels into “Golden Geese” ripe for the taking, writes the author. He goes on to discuss proven methods of hardening commercial ships and training their crews to prevent pirates – whether from Somalia or elsewhere – from boarding vessels and taking crews hostage.