Stunned Boeing Presses USAF to Explain Choice

Bidding changes seen to justify previous decision

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon issued new criteria yesterday for the second round of bidding on its lucrative fuel-tanker contract, Bloomberg reports, and Boeing backers immediately cried foul. The new terms give bonus points to a plane that carries more fuel than the earlier guidelines, which Boeing officials and congressional allies claim favors its European-backed rival, Northrop Grumman. More»

Rivals for $40 billion Air Force deal bring out big guns

(NEWSER) - The battle between Boeing and Airbus soared to new levels of rancor this week at the Paris Air Show, where the companies are competing to supply the US Air Force with fuel tankers in a contract worth up to $40 billion. The open crossfire was unusual, the Wall Street Journal notes, for a defense industry in which rivals on one project are often partners on the next. More»

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon will re-open a $35 billion contract to build the Air Force's fleet of new refueling tankers and pick a new winner by the end of the year, congressional sources say. The Office of the Secretary of Defense—not the Air Force—will oversee the new competition between Boeing Co. and a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp. More»

After losing another big military contract, giant's defense role shrinking to bit parts

(NEWSER) - As Boeing makes fewer military aircraft and more hardware systems, its commercial and defense arms look increasingly like separate companies, the Seattle Times reports. "These are two legs walking in opposite directions," one analyst says. While airplanes continue to dominate its commercial side, the company, once a military-aircraft mainstay, now lacks a single prime contract for future warplanes. More»

US firm blasts 'unfair' award of Air Force contract to Europeans

(NEWSER) - Boeing isn't taking its loss of a $35 billion military contract to Northrop Grumman and Airbus lying down, Reuters reports. A company vice president said he was "as confident as he could be" that Congress would overturn the Air Force's decision to buy refueling tankers from Boeing's European rival. The firm charges that the Air Force broke federal and military rules in the decision-making process and ended up choosing a riskier plane than Boeing was offering. More»