EVERETT — The day after its partner EADS dangled the prospect of new jobs in front of the U.S. Air Force’s nose, Northrop Grumman outlined why the pair’s refueling tanker beats the Boeing Co.’s.
“Who would have thought a year ago that this team would still be here going toe-to-toe with the competition?” Paul Meyer, a Northrop vice president, told the media Tuesday.
Long considered the underdog to win the $40 billion tanker contract, Northrop-EADS says its KC-30 tanker offers both better reliability and value than Boeing’s KC-767, built in Everett. The Air Force could announce the tanker winner next month.
Meanwhile, the major competitors continue to argue their cases. On Monday, EADS announced it would assemble Airbus A330 freighters in Alabama, the final assembly location of its tanker, should it and Northrop win the tanker bid. Boeing said yesterday that its 767 gets greater fuel efficiency than the A330.
During a press briefing Tuesday, Nothrop’s Meyer took to task many of the benefits touted by Boeing on its Everett-built 767. Meyer disputed Boeing’s claims of tanker-building experience and risk assessment.
Boeing built the KC-135 aerial refueling tankers that the Air Force intends to replace due the age of the KC-135 fleet. The agency wants 179 new tankers.
The Chicago-based Boeing has emphasized its experience in tanker work as reason the Air Force should choose the KC-767.
“Boeing hasn’t delivered a tanker since 1966,” Meyer said. “How many of those employees are still on the rolls today?”
Meyer pointed to the problems that Boeing has hit in building tankers for the governments of Italy and Japan. Boeing has struggled with technical troubles and customer-specified certification issues on the tankers. It has not delivered the 767-based tankers to either country.
Although EADS has built and flown an A330-based aircraft for the U.S. already, it lacks tanker features. An EADS-built tanker for the Royal Australian Air Force, however, uses the same boom system and is in flight test. As a result, Northrop believes its tanker carries less risk than Boeing’s.
“We’re ready now,” Meyer said.
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