Русская версияThe Pentagon met Tuesday, Aug.
12, with representatives from Boeing
and the rival Northrop Grumman-EADS partnership over the disputed
contract to build the next generation of aerial refueling tankers,
Pentagon and defense industry officials confirmed.
Pentagon officials were expected to clarify and answer questions
from the defense firms about the draft criteria for submitting bids
to win the $35 billion (23.5 billion euro) 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 the Northrop-EADS group.
Report: Boeing could withdraw bid
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Some US politicians said the contract details favored EADS
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." The
magazine said 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 are tilted to
the advantage of Northrop-EADS. If Boeing pulls out of the
competition, it would leave the Pentagon with just one 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.
US Defense 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.
(Deutsche Welle)
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