If Boeing decides to withdraw itself from the tanker race, it could prove embarrassing to the Air Force, which has gone to great pains to ensure a fair and open proposal process after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) backed a petition brought by Boeing that the U.S. Air Force altered the auction for a $35 billion aerial-tanker contract in the initial bid that was awarded to the Northrop Grumman/EADS joint venture in February.
But Boeing supporters were critical of the revised bid, which was released last week, claiming it favored the larger tanker model originally proposed by its rivals. Some members of Congress have been quite vocal about the U.S. defense contract going to a European firm.
The new criteria “appear to favor a tanker larger than any real-world scenarios would require,” said Rep. Norm Dicks, a Washington state Democrat, Reuters reported, implying that the new requirements give the edge to Northrop Grumman and EADS.
California-based Northrop feels the new bid process is more than fair.
“We are reviewing the draft RFP with an eye toward ensuring that it addresses the issues raised by the GAO in a way that facilitates a fair and non-political evaluation of the competing bids,” said Northrop vice president Randy Belote, AFP reported.
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