The Air Force’s selection yesterday of Northrop Grumman for a $3.8 billion KC-10 tanker logistics contract has raised a few eyebrows.
Defense analyst Loren Thompson, with the Lexington Institute, sees Boeing’s latest loss in string of defeats as the sign of a bad relationship between the defense contractor and the Air Force.
Thompson points out that Boeing seems to be on good terms with both the Army and Navy for defense business.
And Boeing hasn’t failed to deliver for the Air Force, the analyst notes.
“But the relationship went awry in a series of procurement scandals at mid-decade, and then melted down during the competition to build the KC-X future tanker. While Northrop skillfully marketed its plane to the service, Boeing managed to alienate the source evaluation panel,” Thompson writes.
With Army and Navy cutbacks, Thompson says Boeing needs to be on better terms with the Air Force, which has the most work to offer.
“But the Air Force needs to get back on track with Boeing too, because there just aren’t that many companies left that can build the kind of planes it will require in the future. This hasn’t been a great decade for either organization, but if they get a divorce the next decade could be worse,” Thompson says.
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