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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) A Boeing KC-135 tanker sits on the tarmac at Ferihegy Airport in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday. The tanker refuels American fighter jets patrolling the airspace around Bucharest during the NATO summit in the Romanian capital.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, April 4, 2008 Boeing's tanker protest allowed to go forward The Government Accountability Office rejects efforts to dismiss Boeing's dispute of the Air Force's decision. By Michelle Dunlop Herald Writer EVERETT -- The Boeing Co. pushed publicly on Thursday for overturning a $35 billion tanker contract, saying Air Force evaluators found its KC-767 superior in many regards to the competitor's model. Since losing its bid to supply the U.S. Air Force with 179 aerial refueling tankers, Boeing has kept up an aggressive public relations campaign disputing the Pentagon's decision. The Chicago-based company also filed a protest with the investigative arm of Congress in March. This week, the Government Accountability Office said Boeing's protest could go forward despite opposition from the Air Force and contract winner Northrop Grumman, which paired up with EADS for the contract. In a notice dated April 2, the GAO said it had reviewed "significant portions" of the arguments, including Northrop and the Air Force's requests for partial dismissal of Boeing's protest. "We do not find, at this time, that summary dismissal of any of Boeing's protest grounds is appropriate," wrote the GAO's deputy assistant general counsel. The GAO has until mid-June to review the protest. Boeing has claimed the Air Force skewed the competition toward Northrop-EADS. On Thursday, Boeing said that Air Force evaluators gave its KC-767 tanker higher marks than Northrop-EADS' aircraft in terms of capability and crew survivability in a crash. "Despite the changes made in favor of the KC-30 in the area of mission capability, the evaluation was clear in its assessment," said Mark McGraw, Boeing's tanker program manager, in a press statement. "The Air Force identified 98 strengths and only one weakness with the KC-767, while they pinpointed 30 strengths and five weaknesses for the KC-30, including four weaknesses in aerial refueling." Boeing claimed Thursday that the Air Force gave it high marks in aerial refueling. The Air Force, the company said, cited the KC-767's better maneuverability while flying heavily loaded into a refueling zone, and they said its refueling flight deck displays and communications systems were better than the KC-30's. "Also of significant concern for us is the fact that the Air Force settled for a plane that is ultimately less survivable for flight crews performing their vital missions in war zones," Boeing's McGraw said. Northrop countered Boeing's latest claims on Thursday saying that Boeing received poor marks from the Air Force in the area of program risk and management. Northrop pointed to the difficulty its opponent had in delivering 767-based tankers to Japan and Italy. The L.A.-based defense contractor said its KC-30 tanker, based off an Airbus A330 jet, received superior marks than did Boeing's KC-767 in four out of five evaluation criteria. Working with Airbus parent, EADS, Northrop would assemble its KC-30 in Mobile, Ala. The duo announced earlier this week that they had halted work on the tanker while they await the outcome of Boeing's protest. Widely favored to win the tanker competition, Boeing has lashed out at the Air Force, saying the agency led it to believe it had offered the appropriately sized plane. Since choosing the Northrop-EADS KC-30, the Air Force has emphasized that tanker's larger size allows the agency to do "more." In asking the GAO to dismiss part of Boeing's protest, the Air Force said Boeing's complaints over how it evaluated tanker size were "untimely." Northrop's Randy Belote, vice president of communications, said he's "surprised" at Boeing's allegations the Air Force didn't run a fair competition. "No amount of insistence on the part of Boeing officials that its scores should be higher will make it so," Belote said in an e-mailed statement. "To raise your score, you must provide a superior product, which is precisely what Northrop Grumman did."

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