Boeing Bushwhacked. Pentagon Laughs

By this point, we should probably only be surprised when KC-X fails to surprise us.

Nearly a decade ago, the U.S. Air Force embarked on an epic quest to replace a fleet of aging KC-135 refueling tankers with something ... younger than the current commander in chief. Today, Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) and EADS are finally heading into the homestretch. Each of the titans must submit its final bid to manufacture the new tanker by tomorrow. Months of examination and number-crunching will follow, and before the year is out, one company or the other will be chosen, holding aloft a $35 billion, winner-take-all contract to build the tanker.

Not so fast, Tex
At least, that's the way it was supposed to play out. But thank our allies in Ukraine for doing their level best to keep this contest "interesting" all the way down to the wire. In a late-breaking announcement, government-owned plane-builder Antonov announced Friday that it's partnering with a virtually unknown, 18-cents penny stock by the name of U.S. Aerospace, Inc. to offer a bid of its own. (Actually, three bids, based on three separate Antonov aircraft.)

Of course, there is a caveat. Antonov and its partner would like the Air Force to grant a 60-day extension to prepare their bid(s). After all, what's 60 more days in a contest that has already stretched out 10 years?

Rejected!
Apparently, it's 60 days too many. Asked about Antonov's request for a postponement, Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin reportedly: (1) confirmed receipt of said request, and (2) confirmed the deadline is Friday.

Doh!
Yep. But that's OK. As Antonov's statement on its bid demonstrates, the company didn't actually expect to win KC-X. (After all, Team Boeing already has all the big aerospace partners locked up: Honeywell (NYSE: HON  ) , United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) , General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) , and Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE: SPR  ) are on board. Why, it turns out even Delta Airlines (NYSE: DAL  ) has a role in this roll call, providing parts and fleet management support. Clearly, Antonov is punching above its weight in this bout.)

Rather, as Antonov President Dmytro Kiva bragged: "Antonov's participation ... is an historic opportunity for Antonov to showcase its premier design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities to the world." In other words, even in losing the competition, Antonov wins a chance to show it's a world-class airplane builder. I suspect this explains U.S. Aerospace's involvement, as well. It won't win a contract, but at least now everybody knows its name.

Foolish takeaway
Advantage: Still Boeing.