Mar 12, 2008 03:07 PM
The Air Force is getting lots of ack-ack for its decision to award a $35 billion airborne tanker contract to Europe's Airbus instead of Chicago-based Boeing. National defense shouldn't be outsourced, the critics say. There's just one problem with that argument--Boeing itself sends key military work offshore.
Less than a month ago, for instance, Boeing announced a deal to form a joint venture with India's Tata Industries, under which the U.S. aircraft manufacturer pledged to ship $500 million worth of defense-related aerospace component design and manufacturing work to Tata's operations on the Sub-continent.At the time, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems CEO Jim Albaugh said the deal "represents another step in our commitment to India."
According to Boeing, the agreement's intent is to "develop new supply sources throughout the Indian manufacturing and engineering communities for both commercial and defense applications." Boeing stated outright that it plans to outsource work on the Navy's F/A 18 Super Hornet to its Indian joint venture.
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/03/airbus_deal_cri.html