‘I survived tanker hell’
Published 12:11 pm Monday, February 9, 2009
The Air Force tanker competition has become the “worst, most partisan, most awful” program aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia has seen.
The analyst spoke at an aerospace conference in Lynnwood. He noted a T-shirt made up by the Northrop Grumman-EADS team that summarizes how most industry observers feel about the contest: “I survived tanker hell.”
The competition between Boeing and Northrop-EADS has now become one between Democrats in the Northwest and Republicans in the South.
Although Aboulafia sees a split-buy as “ugly” and “stupid” he said it may be the only way the tanker contract goes forward.
