Will the Boeing Co. be the sole bidder for the Air Force tanker contract?

Published 2:28 pm Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told members of Congress today that the Air Force will go forward with its tanker competition even if duo Northrop Grumman and EADS drop out.

Analysts see it as increasingly likely that Northrop could drop out of the $35 billion contest. That would leave the Boeing Co. as the sole bidder.

The Air Force is expected to release its final tanker requirements this month. This is its third attempt at replacing 179 of the Air Force’s KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. In the first round, some lawmakers insisted the Pentagon have a competition instead of handing the contract to Boeing.

But if Northrop drops out, Boeing could see that multi-billion contract at long last.

“Obviously we would like to have a competition for it and we hope that both companies will agree to participate, but we will move forward,” Gates told the House Armed Services Committee, according to this Reuters report.

“We have to have new tankers,” Gates said.

The process of awarding a new tanker contract has dragged on for a decade. During the Air Force’s second attempt, the Pentagon picked Northrop and EADS’ larger KC-30 tanker over Boeing’s KC-767. Boeing protested the contract, which was eventually terminated.

The Pentagon plans to announce the winner of the lucrative deal this summer.