Air Force Will Choose Winner In Battle For The Tanker

Alabama Mobile Defense Secretary Robert Gates has restored the Air Force's authority to select the winner of the $40 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers between Boeing and Northrop Grumman.

by WKRG Staff/The Associated Press

Published: Wed, September 16, 2009 - 8:56 am CST Last Updated: Wed, September 16, 2009 - 9:03 am CST

WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has restored
the Air Force's authority to select the winner of a $40 billion
contract for aerial refueling tankers between Boeing and Northrop
Grumman.

Gates last summer stripped the service's authority to award a
contract in the wake of a Government Accountability Office report
that found the Air Force failed to evaluate both proposals on the
same merits.

Northrop, and its partner European Aeronautic Defense and Space
Company N.V., beat out rival Boeing Co. for the deal last February.
Boeing later successfully protested the award.

If Northrop Grumman/EADS win a second time, the planes will be built at Brookley Field in Mobile.

Gates says the Pentagon "cannot afford the kind of letdowns,
parochial squabbles, and corporate food-fights that have bedeviled
this effort in the past."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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RandyL Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:54 pm

I think the billboards were left up intentionally so that it’s a reminder that they screwed up and that it’s going to be a serious issue if they change there minds and go with Boing.

They were bought and paid for before they changed there minds. Actually Mobile had a full fledge mardi gras type parade after the announcement.

mob1 Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Gates: “AIR FORCE CAN PICK WINNER, as long as they pick boeing”..... is more on the lines of what he is saying.

shrimpfire Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:23 pm

I HOPE IT MEANS WE CAN START BUILDING THE TANKER IN MOBILE

cmb1 Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:11 pm

I guess noone ever took down the billboards? What i don’t understand is what will keep one of them from protesting again and again?

RandyL Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:06 pm

FRAMKLY,

Because as this article says, it was awarded to Mobile and then stripped away. Mobile announced that they had won the contract.

Actually when you fly in and out of Mobile you can still see information about being awarded this contract.

cmb1 Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 12:03 pm

They were awarded the contract and then Boeing protested. Where have you been for the last year?

framkly Says:

Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 9:48 am

Does anyone know why there are billboards all over Mobile county stating ” Mobile home of the K45 tanker” while Northrop has not been awarded the contract yet? Also, who is paying for these billboards?