Clifford Chance (CC) is in line for a fees windfall after its client won the fight to supply a £13bn fleet of air refuelling tankers to the Royal Air Force (RAF), following more than a year of intense negotiations.

Though CC has been advising since early last year on the deal – the largest ever PFI project undertaken by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – the preferred bidder was only finalised by the Government last week.