Russian bid for USAF tanker contract turns murky

A Russian company, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) contradicted reports Monday that it would bid for an aerial refuelling tanker contract issued by the US Air Force. The reports had been put into circulation by American mainstream and other media, and suggested that the Russian firm would seek a joint venture with an American defence contractor to bid for the contract.

Boeing's KC-767 tanker

United Aircraft is "not planning to take part in the tanker tender or set up a joint venture," Alexey I Fedorov, president and chairman of the executive board, said in a statement posted Monday on the company's Web site.

Fedorov's denial comes after John Kirkland, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, said Friday that he was representing a joint venture of United Aircraft and a US defence contractor which intended to bid for the manufacture of aerial refuelling tankers. His statement was cited by mainstream media organisations as evidence of UAC's interest in the tanker contract.

In his statement, Fedorov also said that he "was not familiar with Kirkland."

In the face of UAC's denial Kirkland responded late Monday evening saying he was "engaged several months ago to negotiate a joint venture" with United Aircraft. The venture, he said, was to be called UAC America.

Kirkland said that he was "involved in multiple communications with high-level individuals at both UAC and Russia's Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation" on the proposed venture and that he had "documented conversations and written communications" from UAC stating that the joint venture was "approved and that an agreement would be executed shortly."