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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/boeingaerospace/2010399955_tanker02.html

Northrop Grumman warned the Department of Defense on Tuesday it won't bid against Boeing for the massive Air Force refueling-tanker program unless the Pentagon's draft request for proposals is rewritten.

The move drew a sharp response from the government. A Pentagon official, in an e-mailed statement, said, "The Department cannot and will not change the warfighter requirements for the tanker to give advantage to either competitor."

Oy! Are we EVER going to get new tankers at this rate?

A Pentagon official, in an e-mailed statement, said, "The Department cannot and will not change the warfighter requirements for the tanker to give advantage to either competitor (which isn't called Boeing)."

FTFH - fixed that for him

They might as well throw some dice at this point, it wouldn't hurt their credibility in any way.

I don't blame Northrop. Hell, they won it once, and then the rules of the game were changed. It's like one team winning the Super Bowl and then they change the rules to make it more favorable to the other team and make them replay the game. This is costing a fortune for Northrop and they know damned well they aren't going to win it anyway.

Where is the oversight in this sham of a process?

My, we Americans do have a sense of humor, don't we.

Just ridiculous.

Norairbus has had their share of help from the US government in this ever going saga.

Besides that I think at this state in the global economy some protectionism is fine and not out of line with what is done in France/Germany and other parts of Europe.

Fumanchewd wrote:Norairbus has had their share of help from the US government in this ever going saga.

Besides that I think at this state in the global economy some protectionism is fine and not out of line with what is done in France/Germany and other parts of Europe.

I agree with that, and I don't disagree with just giving a no-bid contract to Boeing. But if they're going to do that they need to make it clear that is the end-game and stop the money hemorrhage that is the bidding process.

I still see this going towards buying both tankers.. I think it is the only way to end the bickering..

Also, if you wanna talk about stimulus for a hurting economy.. Building a plant, then ramping up production at hundreds of sub-contractors around the world, massive logistics commitments, and finally putting thousands of skilled craftsmen, and a ton of un and semi-skilled workers to work.. Sounds like everyone wins.. I think at this point the Air Force just wants something to replace the Dinosaurs.

Its clear that actually equipping the military with the modern equipment to replace existing time expired aircraft doesn't seem to be very high up on the list of priorities.

Running a totally farcical tender process does however......