EVERETT, Wash., Feb 16 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives' appropriations subcommittee on defense renewed a call on Monday for the Pentagon to consider splitting a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract between Boeing Co and a rival team of EADS and Northrop Grumman Corp. The call, by Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha, is a direct challenge to the Pentagon, which has been adamant that contracting only one supplier would be the cheapest for U.S. taxpayers.
It is the latest twist in an almost decade-long saga of deciding who should build tankers to refuel U.S. jet fighters and supply U.S. forces around the world.
"I'm trying to figure out a way to convince the secretary of defense to at least look at two airplanes, or both of them," said Murtha, after a tour of Boeing's widebody aircraft plant in Everett, north of Seattle. "My decision is not where the contract goes, but to come up with the money to pay for the contract once the Air Force makes a decision," said Murtha. "We are trying to come up with ways to get the military to make a decision earlier."
Attempts to start building replacements for the aging U.S. tanker fleet have been bogged down since 2001, when the Air Force hatched a plan to lease and then buy tankers from Boeing, which was subsequently derailed by a procurement scandal. The Northrop/EADS team won the contract last year, but the Government Accountability Office later found errors in the award after a protest by Boeing.
The Pentagon is now looking to start a new competition for the contract this year with an award in early 2010. So far, both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and undersecretary of defense for acquisition John Young have both come out publicly in favor of a single-source tanker. |