Russia"s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC)...

John Kirkland, a U.S. lawyer, told various news media last week that UAC would announce a joint venture on Monday with a small U.S. defense contractor to enter the bidding for the $35-bln KC-X aerial tanker deal against Europe"s EADS and Boeing Co.

"The company officially announces that the media reports referring to John Kirkland"s statement about the UAC participation in the tender to deliver aerial tankers to the U.S. Air Force are false," the UAC said in a statement.

"The UAC does not plan either to take part in this tender or set up a joint venture [to build aerial tankers]," the statement quoted UAC President Alexey Fedorov as saying.

The KC-X tanker tender has a long and complex history.

The U.S. Air Force has been trying for nearly a decade to replace its fleet of obsolete Boeing-built KC-135 Stratotanker aerial tankers.

EADS won a deal in 2008 to build an initial 179 KC-X tankers, but it was cancelled after Boeing successfully appealed

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