Northrop/EADS wins
tanker contract
Posted by George Talbot, Staff Reporter February 29, 2008
3:21 PM
The U.S. Air Force today named Northrop Grumman Corp. and
EADS North America to build its next-generation fleet of aerial
refueling tankers, spurning a bid from rival Boeing Co. with
a decision that could bring an aircraft assembly plant to
Mobile.
The Air Force made its choice after a fierce competition
between the two teams for one of the single largest defense
contracts in U.S. history. Estimated at up to $40 billion,
the deal includes 179 planes to be delivered over the next
10-15 years. Boeing was considered a heavy favorite due mainly
to its political clout and its legacy of building aircraft
for the U.S. military.
The tanker contest pitted Northrop's larger, more capable
KC-30 against Boeing's smaller, more agile KC-767. Los Angeles-based
Northrop plans to assemble its tankers in Mobile, creating
up to 1,500 jobs in a new factory at the Brookley Field Industrial
Complex. Airbus, an EADS subsidiary, has announced plans to
add another 300 jobs by shifting production of a commercial
air freighter to Brookley.
The decision was a triumph for Mobile, which has ambitions
of becoming one of the world's newest aerospace capitals.
Boeing was expected to challenge the award in a formal protest
before the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Doing so
would launch a complex legal process that could take more
than six months to complete. There's also the possibility
that Congress could influence the decision by holding hearings.
Boeing will have time to review the decision before deciding
whether to file a protest with GAO. The company is scheduled
to meet with the Air Force next week to get a debriefing on
the selection process.
The Air Force announcement was met with disappointment in
Boeing country. The company planned to assemble its tankers
on its commercial 767 line in Everett, Wash., and modify them
for military use in Wichita, Kan. The tanker program would
support 44,000 American jobs, according to Boeing. That's
nearly double the 25,000 jobs that Northrop estimated its
KC-30 would support.
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