PJ Media

Two reasons for the US buying from this company that I can think of.

One, the performance of the French aircraft was superior in all aspects to that of the Boeing one. This was probably the primary reason for the selection.

Second, the Airbus aircraft the French tanker is based off of will continue to be in production for many years to come. This makes sourcing replacement parts cheaper and easier. The Boeing aircraft the tanker was to be based off of would end production fairly soon and this would drive the long term maintenance costs through the roof as now all needed parts would be limited run factory pieces or custom pieces.

Cheers,

Tom