Every two years, the global aerospace industry descends upon a beautiful airfield in the southern English town of Farnborough, just west of London, for a week of big announcements, aerial demonstrations, and cutting edge prototypes.

In that spirit, we have traveled to the 2010 Farnborough International Air Show to unveil to the world the future of aerial refueling. We traveled here to tell the story of the NewGen Tanker: an aircraft that delivers maximum capability at a minimum cost. It's a story of the right-sized airframe outfitted with state-of-the-art refueling, survivability, and flight deck technologies. It's a story of experience, flexibility, and a proven aircraft that will be Combat-Ready on Day One.

Today, Boeing executive Chuck Johnson delivered this story to attendees of the Farnborough International Air Show. Chuck Johnson is the Vice President for Mobility, C3/Networks and Support Systems and a 36-year U.S. Air Force veteran, retiring at the rank of Lt. General having flown tankers, commanded tanker crews, and worked in Air Force acquisitions. Mr. Johnson has a unique understanding of the tanker mission from soup to nuts, and knows how new aircraft shape our military's capabilities.

Click here to listen to Chuck Johnson's Farnborough presentation on the Boeing NewGen Tanker

After screening the video embedded above, Johnson laid out the facts of why Boeing's 767-based NewGen Tanker is the best choice for the new generation of American aerial refueling tankers.

Click here to download Chuck Johnson's Farnborough PowerPoint presentation on the Boeing NewGen Tanker (PDF/3MB).

Johnson described how the Boeing NewGen Tanker is the "right-sized" replacement for the Air Force's current fleet of KC-135's - how it can deliver more fuel from more runways to more aircraft around the world. He described how the NewGen Tanker is the only tanker with the combat survivability technologies to operate safely from austere air bases close to war zones. He also noted that the NewGen Tanker is the only tanker that is truly ready now, based on Boeing's extensive experience testing and certifying the operational 767 tankers already delivered to Japan.

Drawing on his experience as a commander, Johnson talked about how deploying more tankers from smaller, forward-operating bases, was the key to getting the mission done under tough circumstances. Putting more "booms in the sky" made the difference - not the size of each tanker aircraft.

Take a look at slides 13 and 19 - for those of you that have flown tankers or large cargo aircraft, you know that it will be very difficult to use the giant European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company's A330 tanker aircraft effectively; it won't fit on bases with limited space, can't land and take off from smaller airstrips, and isn't fuel efficient considering that tankers rarely offload all of their gas during a single mission. In fact, the A330 tanker is 27 percent larger than current KC-10 tankers but carries 100,000 pounds less gas.

Johnson emphasized that Boeing's 767-based NewGen Tanker was the "right sized" tanker to replace the KC-135, offering significant improvements in operational capability in every category. According to Johnson, "more, more, more" is measured in warfighter capabilities, not in larger size. That means more operational flexibility, more booms in the air, more fuel to more aircraft, more refueling orbits, more cargo delivered, and more velocity. It also means a smaller footprint and fewer operating and support costs.

This is the story of Boeing's NewGen Tanker: more capabilities, less cost.  It's a simple story that will change the game of aerial refueling for the U.S. and its allies over the next several decades. We've told the Air Force this story through our proposal. Now, from a small airstrip in England, we've told the world, too.