EADS grounds $40bn US air tanker bid

[FarCenter]

European defence giant EADS has dropped out of a nine-year, two-horse $40bn (£27bn) race to provide the US Air Force with a fleet of air tankers after accusing the American government of skewing the competition in rival Boeing's favour.

By James Quinn in New York
Published: 11:39PM GMT 08 Mar 2010

EADS and US partner Northrop-Grumman last night took the dramatic decision not to make a bid for the 179 plane contract after studying the latest terms drawn up by the US Department of Defence (DoD).

The pairing, which actually won the contract in 2008 only to be stripped of it after a political backlash in support of US rival Boeing, branded the competition for one of the largest military programmes in US history as unfair and unworkable.

"The acquisition methodology outlined ... would heavily weigh in the favour of the smaller, less capable Boeing tanker," said Ralph Crosby, chairman of EADS North America, whose bid would have been based on the Airbus A330. Boeing will propose the use of its smaller 767 jet.

<SNIP>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/7402111/EADS-grounds-40bn-US-air-tanker-bid.html

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And screw you, Senator Shelby!