March 3 at 9:34 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Stock activity
By Reuters
An Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport is shown while refueling two probe-equipped F/A-18 fighter aircraft in this handout photograph from November 2009. (Reuters/EADS North America/Handout)
Airbus parent EADS is nearing a decision not to protest the loss of a $30 billion U.S. refueling plane contract to Boeing, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The European company could announce as early as Friday a decision that will end a bitter decade-long procurement drama described on Wednesday by the top Air Force general as “ugly.”
“Most likely there will be no appeal,” said one source familiar with internal discussions at EADS, who was not authorized to speak publicly. Get the full story »
Feb. 25 at 8:21 a.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
Defense,
Updated
By Julie Johnsson
The Boeing 767-based NewGen Tanker is pictured simultaneously refueling two F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft from the wing air refueling pods in this undated photo illustration, obtained on Feb. 24, 2011. (Reuters/Boeing/Handout)
The U.S. Air Force on Thursday awarded Boeing Co. a contract worth more than $30 billion to build airborne tankers, potentially ending a decade-long contracting saga that is one of the longest and strangest in Pentagon history.
The announcement was an upset win for Chicago-based Boeing, and quickly drew an allegation that Defense Department officials had been swayed by “Chicago politics” from Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), a leading Congressional supporter of rival bidder EADS. Get the full story »
By Reuters
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings next month into an Air Force document bungle roiling a transAtlantic rematch for a potential $50 billion aerial-refueling plane contract.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin said Wednesday he was prepared to launch an investigation into “the release of proprietary data” from rival tanker bidders Boeing and Europe’s EADS.
At issue is what the Air Force calls “a clerical error” that sent Boeing and EADS computerized records in November with sensitive data on each other’s bid for the contract. Get the full story »
Bloomberg | Chicago-based Boeing Co. and European Aeronautic, Defense and Space Co. shouldn’t see any significant fallout from a “clerical error” releasing some data on their bids for a $35 billion aerial tanker program, the Defense Department said. The Air Force disclosed Nov. 19 that the service mistakenly provided Boeing and EADS with “a limited amount” of data on the offers that are now under government review.
