Expert: Tanker Battle Wasn

The selection Feb. 29 of the Air Force’s next aerial refueling tanker caused consternation among lawmakers and others who expressed concerns about entrusting the project to a foreign supplier. But one expert said the decision to choose Northrop Grumman/EADS’s KC-30 platform over Boeing’s KC-767 was easy. "Boeing didn’t manage to beat Northrop on a single measure of merit," said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. The Northrop platform excelled in refueling and airlift capacity at longer distances, had higher performance ratings, is a better bargain, and could perform the mission with fewer aircraft, Thompson said in a statement that was published on the Air Force Association Web site. Boeing still can challenge the outcome, pending a March 12 debriefing as to why it lost the contract. On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., expressed concern about the "serious questions" involved in awarding the contract to a foreign supplier. Pelosi stopped short of taking sides, however.