Law And Policy
Debate over Air Force tanker decision continues in media, Congress
In continuing coverage from previous briefings, Reuters(3/20, Daga) reported, "Northrop Grumman and Boeing escalated their war of words...over a $35 billion contract for 179 U.S. Air Force refueling aircraft," with Northrop "issu[ing] a press release... accusing" Boeing's Mark McGraw "of making 'a number of false assertions' in a letter to the editor of the New York Times." Northrop contends that "the Air Force preferred the size and capability of the A330-based tanker it offered and stressed that its plane had been built, flown and tested." McGraw had alleged that the Air Force "change[d] he terms of the process in midstream to favor Northrop and its Airbus A330-based tanker, and not inform[ed] Boeing." Reuters also noted the decision's continuing impact on Congress, where "[l]awmakers are arguing over which of the two bids would have created more jobs." In response to this debate, John Hamre of the Center for Strategic and International Studies "said the politicians should step back and let the GAO make a dispassionate decision."
