Northrop ponders no bid, legal action in AF tanker contest

Published 9:59 am Wednesday, October 28, 2009

The Air Force hasn’t yet released its final tanker requirements to competitors the Boeing Co. and duo Northrop Grumman and EADS, but the Pentagon already faces trouble.

Northrop Grumman told reporters today that it’s not ruling out boycotting the contest altogether.

The defense contractor began raising concerns about pricing information that the Air Force gave Boeing during the last contract.

Although the Air Force said it didn’t believe its actions harmed Northrop, the agency did ask Boeing permission to release its tanker pricing from the last contest to Northrop. Boeing said no.

Northrop officials this morning said they also haven’t ruled out taking legal action over the pricing info.

For its part, Boeing has raised concerns about the draft request for proposal. The company and its supporters want the Air Force to take into consideration a recent WTO ruling against Airbus (EADS is its parent company) in the tanker contract. The Air Force says it won’t do so.

Also this morning, the Boeing Machinists released comments regarding Northrop and EADS’ tanker partnership:

From the IAM’s general vice president Richard Michalski

“EADS/Airbus is currently promoting its phantom tanker program around the world without Northrop Grumman. So here’s the ‘big why:’ if Northrop Grumman is a full partner with EADS/Airbus on the tanker program, why aren’t they being marketed around the world alongside the French company?

“It turns out that the ‘big why’ is a big lie. EADS/Airbus is using Northrop Grumman as mere window dressing on its latest ploy to steal American jobs.”