Mobile, Alabama - With a new round of competition set to begin in the next couple of weeks, officials with Northrop Grumman Corp. and Boeing Co. said they're eager to resume their battle for the U.S. Air Force's refueling tanker contract.
Top Air Force officials said last week they hope to reopen bidding on the potential $40 billion contract soon after lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., from their summer recess. Congress is scheduled to reconvene Sept. 8. The stakes could not be much higher. New tankers are the Air Force's top priority, and the contract ranks among the biggest ever awarded by the Pentagon. For Mobile, a win by Northrop and its bidding partner, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., would bring construction of a $600 million, 1,500-worker aircraft production plant.
For Chicago-based Boeing, a win would secure thousands of aircraft assembly jobs in Washington state and Kansas, both hard-hit by the economic downturn. Airbus, an EADS subsidiary, has announced plans to add assembly of commercial A330 freighters in Mobile, contingent on winning the tanker work. The facility would give Airbus a long-sought foothold on U.S. soil and establish a Southern center of aircraft production to rival Boeing's operations in the Pacific Northwest. The contract for 179 planes was designed to be the first of three phases to replace the Air Force's aging fleet of more than 500 KC-135 Stratotankers, which average nearly 50 years in service and are becoming increasingly costly to operate.
Both of the companies and the Air Force have been preparing for the rematch. "I think if (a dual buy) is structured in a way that saves costs, you could see support for it," said U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham. Davis added that a compromise may be the only way to break a political stalemate between the two rival teams. "Otherwise, we'll be right back in this mess two years from now. And we can't wait that long for a modern tanker." Aurtur Davis is a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2010.
We will be watching closely the rematch between these two companies beginning Sept. 8 and will be bringing you the latest updates.
