Northrop Grumman touts its tanker

EVERETT – The Boeing Co. isn’t the only one with an aerial refueling tanker “made in America.”

So said Northrop Grumman Corp. officials when they identified a number of U.S. suppliers for their KC-30 tanker program – a program that will compete against Boeing’s KC-767 for a multibillion-dollar contract from the U.S. Air Force.

“Over 50 percent of this aircraft will be built in America,” Paul Meyer, a vice president at the Los-Angeles based Northrop, told journalists during a KC-30 briefing Wednesday.

Northrop has joined forces with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the parent company of Airbus, for the Air Force bid. The Northrop-EADS built tanker would create as many as 25,000 jobs in the United States, Northrop officials said. The consortium intends to build the tanker, based on Airbus’ A330 commercial jet, in Mobile, Ala.

“If it’s built in Alabama, it’s built in America,” said Wes Bush, Northrop president.

Northrop and EADS have faced criticism from members of Congress who contend the U.S. Air Force should use tankers built by an American company. The KC-30 also appears to be more costly than does the KC-767. Northrop-EADS nearly dropped out of the competition, saying they thought it was slanted toward Boeing, but the pair stayed in when the Air Force provided them a way to explain how to weigh their tanker’s performance against the less expensive Boeing tanker.

On Wednesday, Northrop officials, together with Alabama political leaders, touted the tanker’s versatility over Boeing’s offering.

“Today our military faces worldwide threats – threats not envisioned 30 years ago,” Bush said.

That’s why Northrop is providing options to the Air Force, Meyer said. The KC-30, which functions effectively as a tanker-transport, offers more flexibility than does Boeing’s KC-767, which is aimed more at the tanker role.

For the competition to replace 179 Air Force KC-135 tankers, Boeing will offer the Air Force a tanker devised from its 767 commercial jet. A Boeing spokesman said 85 percent of its plane would be made in the United States, with major production continuing in Everett and additional work taking place in Wichita, Kan.

On Wednesday, Northrop-EADS announced their suppliers for the KC-30, including Honeywell Inc., Smiths Aerospace and GE Aviation.

But will a plane that’s 50 percent U.S.-built, a hefty list of American suppliers and new jobs be enough to win the hearts and minds Congress, whose members have the final say?

Probably not, says one local analyst.

“This is going to result in a game of political football,” said Scott Hamilton, with Leeham Co.

Ultimately, Hamilton believes the fact that the Northrop-EADS tanker is based off of an Airbus A330 will come back to haunt the consortium.

At the same time as the tanker debate takes place, the United States will continue to press its case, on behalf of Boeing, to the World Trade Organization alleging that Airbus has been the recipient of illegal government subsidies. That money, Boeing says, helped start several of the European planemaker’s jet programs, including the A330.

Even if the Air Force chooses the Northrop-EADS tanker, members of the Washington state delegation will raise the trade-dispute flag when it comes before Congress for funding, Hamilton said.

“The World Trade Organization dispute will still be very much alive when the Air Force is making its decision,” he said.

The Air Force expects responses by April 12 on the first of three installments in a deal worth an estimated $100 billion. The agency anticipates announcing the winner of the first phase, worth $40 billion, this year.

For their part, Alabama supporters of the KC-30 said Wednesday they hope politics won’t matter.

“If this is not the best thing for all of our fighting men and women, then I don’t want (Northrop-EADS) to win,” said Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. “They depend on us to make the right decision, not a political one.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reporter Michelle Dunlop: 425-339-3454 or mdunlop@heraldnet.com.