Boeing Northrop Confident About Tanker Deal

Washington Business Journal Both Boeing and its rival Northrop Grumman  said Friday that they were confident about winning a $35 billion contract to replace the militarys aging air tanker fleet.  The Air Force launched its third attempt Friday to award the contract which has been plagued with controversy by releasing new requirements.   Boeing has a KC-7A7 family of tankers available to meet the warfighters requirements" Boeing said in a statement. Whether its the agile flexible 767-based tanker or the large 777-based tanker Boeing will deliver a combat-ready tanker with maximum capability at the lowest cost" said the Boeing release. Randy Belote vice president of strategic communications for Northrop said the company is looking forward to competing for and winning the contract again." The $35 billion contract had been awarded once to Chicago-based Boeing and once to a joint venture between Northrop Grumman and Airbus parent European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. But the contracts were canceled both times. The contract was awarded in February 2008 to Northrop and Airbus but the deal fell through in July 2008 after Boeing successfully appealed the decision to the Government Accountability Office which found that the proposals were not evaluated fairly. In 2004 the Pentagon scrapped a plan to buy tankers from Boeing.