Aerospace team urges tanker performance over content

The American-European aerospace team seeking to win the massive Air Force airborne tanker contract and the lawmaker whose district would benefit from it argued Tuesday that aircraft performance, not domestic content, should be the deciding factor.

Using the criteria of who has the "optimal" commercial airliner and the best ability to integrate the required military systems to produce an effective, economical and survivable tanker, "we think this team, led by Northrop Grumman and supported by EADS, is the team of choice to deliver that integrated process," said Paul K. Meyer, a Northrop vice president.

And contrary to some lawmakers' concerns about a European-made aircraft winning this major military contract, Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala., declared: "This is truly an American product."

In a briefing at the National Press Club, Meyer presented a vast array of data he said showed the superior qualities of the KC-30 tanker, based on an Airbus 330 airliner, over the rival tanker derived from Boeing's 767 passenger jet.

Although the main components would be produced in France and elsewhere in Europe, the proposed tanker would be assembled in a new plant in Mobile, integrated with the military components in a Northrop facility there and managed from Melbourne, Fla., Meyer said.

That would create about 25,000 U.S. jobs, which Meyer said was equal to what Boeing would generate if it wins the contract. A fifth of those jobs would be created in Mobile, which Bonner represents.

Some "Buy America" advocates in Congress have objected to the Air Force considering the Airbus plane for what could be a $40 billion contract for 179 refueling planes to replace 50-year-old KC-135s.

But, Bonner said, "We're talking about 'Buy America'." He recalled that Alabama has gained 50,000 manufacturing jobs by attracting foreign automakers to the state. "The lesson is, we should embrace companies willing to bring jobs into the United States."

Meyer said the KC-30 would have 58 percent to 60 percent "domestic content," which would meet the "Buy America" requirements of at least 50 percent. And he argued that Boeing does not produce an airliner that has 100 percent U.S. content.

So the debate should be on what aircraft is best for the Air Force and the taxpayers, and the KC-30 is that plane, Meyers said.

To underscore this point, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., succeeded Monday in adding "sense of Congress" language to the fiscal 2008 defense authorization bill discouraging the Air Force "from taking any actions that would limit the ability of either of the teams seeking the contract ... from competing for that contract."

Boeing spokesman Bill Barksdale agreed that the contract award should be based on aircraft capabilities, which he said favors the KC-767, a smaller, more efficient plane built by the company that has made nearly every strategic tanker in Air Force history.

But he also noted the 767 would be produced in Everett, Wash., modified in Wichita, Kan., would have 85 percent domestic content and support at least 44,000 U.S. jobs.

The Boeing bid was endorsed by Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., who called the KC-767 "the most flexible, efficient, capable tanker available. I look forward to a continued fair and open competition because, without a doubt, this will be one of the most important acquisitions our defense community will make in the foreseeable future."

Rep. Norman Dicks, D-Wash., and Democratic Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, also have strongly opposed the Northrop-EADS bid.

The Air Force has said it would award the tanker contract late this year, but industry officials said that might slide until January.