A Big Win for Boeing

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Another competition, if it happens, might not occur until next February. Meanwhile, Boeing's backers are sure to use the GAO's findings to garner more support in Congress for financing a tanker program that includes Boeing. Sue C. Payton, the Air Force's top acquisition official, said the service would move swiftly. "The Air Force will do everything we can to rapidly move forward so America receives this urgently needed capability."

Many Fortunes Hang in the Balance

The GAO's full decision, which comprises 69 pages, is under seal because it contains proprietary and sensitive information. The agency, the investigatory arm of Congress, routinely weighs bid protests submitted by government contractors. The question it resolves is whether government agencies have hewed to regulations and laws, not whether one company's product or service is better than that of another. Thus the Air Force could still decide Northrop is the best choice.

The GAO cautioned that its decision "should not be read to reflect a view as to the merits of the firms' respective aircraft." The announcement was highly anticipated, not least because of the ramifications it has for jobs at a time when airlines are cutting back on big-plane orders. Still hanging in the balance are the fortunes of the three aerospace titans and their bevy of global subcontractors and suppliers.

The outcome could affect Boeing's ability to secure buyers for its tanker overseas, and its competition for a share of another $65 billion in tanker sales in the U.S. Meanwhile, EADS, which is based in France and Germany, is eager to gain a foothold in the U.S. market, and awaits a final decision before going ahead with plans to build an Alabama factory where it would convert A330s into tankers.

A Presidential Election Issue?

Not surprisingly, the decision to go with Northrop's European-designed A330s rather than Boeing's 767 ignited passions among U.S. voters. The issue could become a factor in the Presidential campaign as well. Republican John McCain is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and it was McCain's investigation in 2003 of corruption in a tanker contract between Boeing and the Air Force that effectively scuttled that deal and opened the door for a bid by Northrop and EADS.

In a significant development only hours after the GAO's ruling, Carl Levin, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called for a new competition for the tankers. "We now need not only a new full, fair and open competition in compliance with the [GAO] recommendations, but also a thorough review of—and accountability for—the process that produced such a flawed result," the Michigan Democrat said in a statement.

Patty Murray, a Democratic senator from Washington state, has called the Air Force award to Northrop and EADS shortsighted for "placing the future of America's aerospace industry and national security in the hands of an illegally subsidized foreign competitor."

What has sometimes been lost in the rhetoric is how much the U.S. Air Force needs the tankers. The planes, which are essentially flying gas stations, refuel military jets in midair, allowing them to stay for hours in combat zones. Moving matériel and troops, refueling warplanes, and maintaining intense coordinated attacks—all these depend on the refueling tankers.

Not Expecting a Slam Dunk

But the existing tankers are high-maintenance, Cold War-era machines (in the opening of Stanley Kubrick's classic 1964 satire Dr. Strangelove, a KC-135 refuels a B-52 bomber). Today the planes are 40-plus years old and are rapidly wearing out thanks to the demands of faraway conflicts. The Air Force considers replacing them with more sophisticated aircraft its top weapons purchasing priority.

The GAO analyzed thousands of documents—many of them proprietary or internal records of Air Force deliberations—and took testimony from a raft of Air Force witnesses. Because of the murkiness of the bidding process, even Northrop executives weren't expecting a slam dunk. But the GAO's tone was striking to many observers. A day before the decision, Northrop spokesperson Belote had predicted the GAO would identify "a couple of minor issues" in the way the Air Force awarded the contract.

"At the end of the day the protests will be denied and we'll move on," Belote said. "If we get an A-minus rather than an A-plus on the ruling, well, in our book an A-minus is still a passing grade and we can move forward." He added: "We'll be vindicated. The Air Force will turn the contract back on."