Ala. lawmakers pitch Northrop for tanker deal

[unhappycamper]

Ala. lawmakers pitch Northrop for tanker deal
By Erik Holmes - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Oct 30, 2007 13:17:52 EDT

The competition for the $30 billion, 179-plane tanker contract is heating up, and the Alabama congressional delegation is making a case for Northrop Grumman as the best choice for the Air Force program.

And they’re doing it on the op-ed page of a Mobile, Ala., newspaper.

Sen. Richard Shelby, Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rep. Jo Bonner — all Alabama Republicans — wrote a bluntly worded editorial that appeared in both The Hill newspaper in Washington and Sunday’s (Mobile) Press-Register. In it, they claim that Boeing has “spread inaccurate and misleading information” and argue that the Northrop airplane — which would be built in Mobile — is far superior.

Northrop, which has teamed up with the European company EADS, has said the tanker program would create 5,000 new jobs in Alabama and generate $280 million annually in economic growth in the state. Alabama’s congressional delegation has pushed hard behind the scenes for the Northrop proposal, but Sunday’s editorial is their first salvo in such a public forum.

The lawmakers open their editorial by claiming that the Boeing team acted in bad faith.

“Recently, Boeing has gone to alarming lengths to spread inaccurate and misleading information regarding both Northrop Grumman's proposal and the workforce that would build it,” the editorial says.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/10/airforce_tanker_alabama_071030/



uhc comment: Previous postings in this forum about the tanker replacement
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=5520
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=5757
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=259&topic_id=5911