Northrop Grumman is threatening to drop out of the Air Force tanker competition with the Boeing Co. unless the Pentagon makes significant changes to its rules.
In a letter addressed to the Pentagon’s acquisitions chief, Northrop’s CEO said the Air Force has declined to make changes to its draft requirements. The Air Force is expected to issue its final rules shortly and announce the contest winner next summer.
But Northrop’s Wes Bush suggested Tuesday that the Pentagon shows a “clear preference” for Boeing’s smaller tanker. The Air Force’s demands place “contractual and financial burdens on the company that we simply cannot accept,” Bush wrote.
“As a result, I must regrettably inform you that, absent a responsive set of changes in the final RFP, Northrop Grumman has determined that it cannot submit a bid,” he wrote.
The letter, dated Dec. 1, was obtained by Inside Defense.
This is the Pentagon’s third attempt at replacing its KC-135 fleet of tankers. The contract to do so is worth roughly $35 billion.
Boeing has said it is considering offering the Air Force either a tanker based off its 767 commercial jet or its 777 jet, or both.
This is not the first time that Northrop Grumman has threatened not to compete in an Air Force tanker contest. During the Pentagon’s last attempt at replacing 179 of its KC-135 tankers, Northrop also suggested it would drop out of the competition, saying then the contest favored Boeing. The Air Force awarded the $35 billion deal to Northrop but eventually called off the contract after government auditors found numerous flaws in the contest.
U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said that Northrop, and its partner EADS, just wants the Air Force to favor the duo’s KC-30 tanker, which is based off an Airbus A330 jet.
“Today’s threat by Airbus to drop out of the tanker competition unless the rules are changed in their favor is no surprise,” Murray said, in a statement. “This is a new competition, but the players are the same and Airbus is up to its same old tricks.”
Northrop and EADS have said they would assemble their tanker in Mobile, Ala. EADS also said it would move some Airbus A330 Freighter work to the state as well, should the Air Force pick their tanker.
Both Boeing’s 767 and 777 jets are assembled here in Everett. Finishing work on the tankers may be completed in Wichita, Kan.
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