Alabama Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby have dropped their hold on President Obama’s nominee Ashton Carter for the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer slot.
The two senators met with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday to express concerns over how he conducts the next round of the Air Force tanker competition between the Boeing Co. and duo Northrop Grumman and EADS, Reuters reports.
Alabama would be home to a assembly site for Northrop-EADS’ KC-30 tanker while Washington and Kansas would benefit from a Boeing KC-767 win.
Although several lawmakers as well as the potential bidders have voice at least mild support for splitting the $35 billion contract, Gates steadfastly has opposed doing so.
However, defense analyst Loren Thompson, with the Lexington Institute, told Mobile’s Press Register that dual-award is gaining support both in Congress and within the military.
“People are beginning to recognize that the standoff could go on forever unless we find some way of breaking the impasse,” Thompson told the newspaper. “Things are looking up for this proposal, despite Secretary Gates’ opposition.”
Thompson had the inside scoop during the last competition, which Northrop won but eventually was called off due to missteps by the Air Force.
In a recent brief, Thompson had sharp criticism for Gates. With regards to the drawn out tanker contest, Thompson wrote: “even on tankers, it isn’t so clear Gates knows what he’s doing.”
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