Airbus said on Jan. 14 that if the US Air Force selects Northrop Grumman over Boeing to produce next-generation aerial refueling tankers, it will establish its first US final assembly line in Mobile to produce both the tankers and commercial A330 freighters. Northrop's proposed KC-30 tanker is based on the A330. The defense firm is teamed with Airbus and parent EADS in its effort to win the tanker contract, which is valued at about US$40 billion and is scheduled to be awarded on Jan. 31. The contract calls for 12-18 aircraft to be produced annually. Airbus did not say how many A330Fs it would produce at the site.

Airbus President and CEO Tom Enders, who along with EADS CEO Louis Gallois has hinted at moving more production outside Europe owing to the declining dollar, said on Jan. 14 in Mobile that the A330F FAL would be "part of our larger plan to internationalize Airbus." The site already had been planned for the KC-30 and Airbus said that "hundreds more jobs" would be added to build A330Fs. The company currently has an engineering center in Mobile that is slated to employ 150 by 2009. It said that construction on the FAL could begin this year if the Air Force makes the tanker decision quickly enough. Though the contract award is scheduled for this month, it reportedly could be pushed back yet again.