The mystery continues over what company will get the Air Force's huge contract for an air tanker, leaving Northrop Grumman one of two companies still in the running. It is widely believed that the decision was made Monday in a meeting, but nothing has been announced. Speculation now is that it will be announced Friday after the markets close.
Reuters, which has been covering the story aggressively, reported Thursday that the Air Force’s top uniformed officer said he himself did not yet know whether Boeing or Northrop Grumman would be awarded the potential $40 billion deal to start building a new U.S. aerial refueling
fleet.
Gen. Michael Moseley’s remarks extended the suspense about the winner-take-all contract announcement for 179 aircraft. “As you know by policy and law, I’m not in the acquisition business, and I have no idea which airplane I’m going to get,” Moseley, the chief of staff, told Reuters and other reporters at a breakfast.
Northrop Grumman Corp has offered a tanker based on the Airbus A330, built by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. of France (EADS), its partner in the competition. Boeing Co has proposed a modified 767 airliner. Northrop Grumman has said it would do the vast majority of the work on the new planes in Alabama, but there's a belief that some engineering work could be done by the company's division on Long Island.
--Noel Rubinton