The bidding for a US military contract to build its next set of supertanker aircraft has just had an unexpected twist: Russia's state-owned firm, United Aircraft Corporation or UAC, announced through its lawyers late Friday that it would be joining the fray.

Attorney John Kirkland said the company would enter the bidding with a publicly-traded American partner he declined to name. The official announcement is scheduled for Monday.

Citing an unnamed source, news agency Agence France Presse reported that UAC would propose a version of its Ilyushin IL-96. The aircraft would be built mainly in Russia, and assembled at a factory in the southeast US.

"They have been working for more than a year to prepare this bid. If the competition is fair, then UAC would win," Kirkland said in a Wall Street Journal report cited by Reuters.

'No chance at all'

But Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia called the company's entry attempt "bizarre."

"They have no chance at all," Aboulafia told AFP. "In addition to the obvious security concerns, there are strong doubts about their ability to create a jetliner that's up to Airbus or Boeing standards. Even if they did, the political obstacles would be insurmountable."

On Thursday the Pentagon announced that it was considering extending a deadline to submit bids for the $35 billion (25.7 billion euros) project.

EADS, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space company, said Friday that it might re-enter a bid, having dropped out earlier this month when its partnership with American firm Northrop Grumman collapsed. EADS, along with the British and French prime ministers, had also complained that the bid rules unfairly favored American competitor Boeing.

svs/AFP/Reuters
Editor: Andreas Illmer