Northrop Loses Bargaining Chip in Refueling Tanker CompetitionDecember 04, 2008
 Now that a new U.S. administration is taking shape, Boeing and Northrop are preparing their campaigns to compete for the controversial refueling tanker contract. Northrop, however, may have lost one of its strongest bargaining chips, according to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The company has often repeated in its advertising push that Boeing was late delivering tankers based on its 767 aircraft to Italy and Japan. At the same time, it has maintained that Northrop and its tanker partner and airbus parent, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS), have been on schedule to deliver its first A330 tanker to the Australian military. Now EADS says that the first A330 tanker to be delivered to Australia will also be late, without specifying just how late. An Australian defense official said he expected only a "slight delay." The cause of the delay: EADS said there are several kinks it is working through, including "modifications to the air-refueling and avionics systems, and additional flight testing," according to the Post-Intelligencer. The company said, however, it expects to deliver the next four tankers on time in 2011. The article notes that this estimated delay hardly compares with the delays Boeing is facing in its delivery of four tankers to the Italian military. Boeing had planned to deliver the tankers in 2005 but has faced "air-flow problems on the wing," according to the Post-Intelligencer. Boeing was also late in delivering the first 767 tankers to Japan. In the meantime, the Pentagon has put on hold several controversial contracts, waiting for the next administration to review the bidding. It became increasingly cautious after being scorched for its handling of the competition for a new fleet of in-air refueling tankers that would have replaced the refueling tankers now in use for more than 50 years. That debacle even got a prominent mention on one of the presidential debates. (Photo by Tech. Sgt. Andy Dunaway, U.S. Air Force.) |
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