Boeing Tanker Production Assessment Shows "Low" Cost RiskSeptember 23, 2011
 Boeing is aiming to deliver the production-model aerial refueling tankers four to five months ahead of schedule, around May 2017, according to a U.S. Air Force manager overseeing the program. Major General Christopher Bogdan told Bloomberg News that he wishes the company luck. "I would love for them to deliver early, but there are a few things in that schedule that are a little more risky," he said. Bogdan says a better estimate might be around August 2017. His assessment is based on the Air Force's review of Boeing's progress since the company won an initial contract of nearly $5 billion to deliver a new generation of aerial refueling tankers to replace those in use since the Eisenhower era. At least at this early stage, the review found that the program poses "low" cost and technical risk, according to Bloomberg. The review pegged the chances of the program falling behind schedule at a "moderate" risk level. The review is studying 577 individual specifications that include over 350 requirements in the original bid. "We took two months to go line by line to make sure we had a meeting of the minds," Bogdan told Bloomberg. "We looked at the scope of work, we looked at the schedule and the resources Boeing has applied, and made sure that they all connect," he said. "We looked at manpower, we looked at hours, down to the lowest levels of people doing the work." The upcoming milestones include:
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