Lawmakers’ industrial base directive on tanker favors Boeing

EVERETT — Lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Department of Defense to consider the country’s aerospace industrial base in reviewing a $35 billion aerial refueling tanker deal.

The move could favor the Boeing Co., which successfully protested its loss of the Air Force tanker contract to Northrop Grumman and EADS. The Pentagon announced an expedited rebid of the lucrative contract earlier this month.

A U.S. House of Represen­tatives appropriations subcommittee recommended full funding in 2009 for the tanker program but added conditions for the funding. The subcommittee provided $893 million in funds for the tanker program for the coming year but directed the Department of Defense to comply with government auditor findings and demanded the Pentagon include “industrial base concerns” in the final evaluation of the contract.

Committee chairman Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., added the language to the markup of the defense spending bill. Murtha voiced skepticism when the Air Force initially awarded the contract on Feb. 29 to Northrop Grumman and EADS, the parent company of Airbus. Northrop and EADS would assemble their KC-30 tanker, which is based off an Airbus A330 jet, in Mobile, Ala.

In a March hearing, Murtha emphasized Congress’ role in funding Air Force contracts.

“There is the industrial base you have to consider,” Murtha said. “The political implications are important.”

Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., serves as vice-chairman on the defense subcommittee. As a representative of the state where Boeing would assemble its KC-767 tanker, Dicks criticized the Air Force and lobbied for Congress to intervene in the procurement process.

The Government Account­ability Office, in mid-June, determined the Air Force made numerous errors its evaluation of the bid. The auditors recommended the Air Force reopen the contract. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, however, took over the contract after firing several top Air Force officials. The Pentagon plans to publish a draft request for proposal in August.

Boeing backers such as Dicks and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., have voiced concerns that the Pentagon simply plans to change the bid specifications to match the larger Northrop and EADS’ KC-30 tanker.

“If he truly plans to make this a fair contest, Secretary Gates must ensure that before the selection team reopens this competition it goes back and addresses each of the GAO findings, ensures that both companies are on the same footing, and proves that the competition is as transparent as possible,” Murray said in a speech Wednesday.

Her speech comes one day after she met with acting Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to discuss the tanker contract. Fellow Washington Democrat Sen. Maria Cantwell has threatened to block Gates’ nomination of Donley for the Air Force secretary spot if the Pentagon doesn’t conduct a fair rebid competition.

Both Boeing and Northrop claim their tankers protect the American aerospace base. Northrop says its KC-30 will employ 48,000 American workers at 230 companies in 49 states. The Boeing KC-767 supports 44,000 jobs, including more than 9,000 here in Washington, across the country.

Former Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne acknowledged the importance of preserving the country’s aerospace base during a March hearing.

“I worry about the industrial base of the future,” Wynne said.

The Air Force also submitted written testimony for that March hearing, noting that the industry has “deteriorated” since the early 1990s. The service suggested increased investment in order to reverse the trend.

“As Air Force assets wear out, the U.S. is losing the ability to build new ones,” the Air Force wrote.

Northrop and EADS backers got in some digs at Boeing on Wednesday. A Mobile, Ala.-based group, “Alabamians to Build American Tankers” took out radio advertisements in the Washington, D.C., area, blasting Boeing for saying that a Northrop and EADS tanker win would cost America jobs.

“Yes I’m mad,” said Bryan Lee, a Mobile firefighter, who helped start the group. “Boeing dares to question our loyalty to this country. They dare suggest that we would be party to shipping jobs or military secrets overseas. It’s time Boeing understands how it feels to have your loyalty questioned.”

Visit Herald reporter Michelle Dunlop’s aerospace blog at heraldnet.com to listen to the tanker radio advertisements and to comment on the tanker debate.