Pentagon meets Boeing, Northrop on tanker contract

Washington - The Pentagon met Tuesday with representatives from Boeing and the rival Northrop Grumman-EADS partnership over the disputed contract to build the next generation of aerial refuellers, Pentagon and defence industry officials confirmed. Pentagon officials are expected to clarify and answer questions from the defence firms about the draft criteria for submitting bids to win the 35-billion-dollar contract to build the 179 KC-X tankers, said Cheryl Irwin, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The Pentagon sent the draft request to the firms last week and expects to issue a final request to Boeing and Northrop-EADS to submit final proposals later this month, Irwin said. Pentagon officials held separate meetings Tuesday morning with Boeing and later with Northrop. The contract was initially won by the Northrop-EADS team, but a congressional oversight agency upheld a protest by Boeing, effectively forcing the Pentagon to repeat the competition. Aviation Week, a leading aerospace publication, reported Monday that Boeing might drop out of the competition. Citing 'multiple sources,' Aviation Week said that Boeing was 'strongly considering' the option of not submitting a proposal. Dan Beck, a Boeing spokesman, played down the article: 'We don't know who the Aviation Week sources were, but Boeing has not been talking about our internal deliberations. No decisions have been made. All options remain on the table.' Some members of Congress who support Boeing have said that the criteria in the new proposal request by the Pentagon is tilted to the advantage of Northrop-EADS. If Boeing pulls out of the competition, it would leave the Pentagon in the uncomfortable position of having a single bidder for the contract. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative arm of Congress, found in a June 18 report that the Air Force made critical errors in awarding the contract to Northrop and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company. Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced July 9 that he had accepted the GAO findings and planned to restage the competition under an expedited process, citing the need to quickly replace the Air Force's aging fleet of KC-135 tankers.

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PperfectAug 14th, 2008 - 00:14:13

Thios whole mess will be settled soon as soon as they can figure how to get part of the contract to a relative or a friend of Bush or Cheney's.

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Be quiet and let the adults talk Pperfect.Aug 14th, 2008 - 09:25:58

Add aviation to the long list of topics that you are unqualified to talk about.

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@ Be quiet and let the adults talk Pperfect.Aug 14th, 2008 - 16:15:04

I see the pubescent acne squad is at it again. Nothing to say that is on topic. Just another peckerhead who is definitely not an adult. Grow some stones, boy.

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SP4: Yes, please..Aug 14th, 2008 - 22:36:05

after the Clinton admin spent 8 years cow towing to Boeing, getting a single source replacement program started for them and then selling MFN status to china for campaign funds, effectively allowing Boeing to outsource jobs on the 787, the village idiot above has the gall to suggest it is somehow Bush's fault, after he injected real competition into the bid process.

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Drop dead you POS.Aug 14th, 2008 - 22:51:37

'Nothing to say that is on topic. Just another peckerhead who is definitely not an adult.'

Thanks for he lesson in hypocrisy.

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FPPAug 14th, 2008 - 23:10:52

If you cannot manage a meanigful comment on a complex subject, go comment on the Jonas Brothers MTV taping, or something else you can comprehend.

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