According to a company announcement, Boeing hand-delivered its bid on Friday to be the prime contractor for new Air Force aerial refueling tankers.

The Boeing bid on the $35 billion tanker replacement program was submitted to the KC-X program office at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, just one day after competitor EADS North America turned theirs in.

Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said, "We are honored to support our U. S. Air Force customer and submit this proposal to meet the critical mission needs of this nation. Boeing has more than 60 years of experience developing, manufacturing and supporting tankers for America's war-fighters, and we're ready to build the NewGen Tanker now. This revolutionary tanker will deliver wide-body capabilities in a narrow-body footprint, operate in any theater or from any base, and, with the lowest operating cost of any tanker in the competition, save the Air Force and the American taxpayers billions of dollars."

Boeing says its NewGen tanker, based on its 767 commercial liner, would is a wide-body, multi-mission aircraft updated with the latest and most advanced technology and capable of meeting or exceeding the Air Force's needs for transport of fuel, cargo, passengers and patients.

It has also been reported that it would include state-of-the-art systems to meet mission requirements of the future, including a digital flight deck featuring Boeing 787 Dreamliner electronic displays and a cockpit-design philosophy that places the pilot in command rather than allowing computer software to limit combat maneuverability. (With Inputs from Agencies)