Two top Air Force acquisition officials will testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to explain why they passed over Boeing Co. to award a massive $35 billion aerial refueling tanker contract to its French rival.
They won’t lack for an interested audience. Since the contract was awarded Friday, lawmakers, governors, union leaders and Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) executives have demanded an explanation for why the incumbent contractor lost to European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., the maker of Airbus planes, and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles.
Sue Payton and Lt. Gen. John L. "Jack" Hudson will testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense following last week’s surprise, backlash-inducing decision. In states where Boeing would have built the planes, the outrage and the output of statements denouncing the Air Force’s decision were considerable.
Sens no teletrack payday loans fast cash advance. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, both Democrats from Washington, Sens. Sam Brownback and Pat Roberts, both Republicans from Kansas, are among the lawmakers who sent a letter to top Pentagon officials requesting an Air Force briefing this week. And the Kansas congressional delegation on Tuesday asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to suspend its award of the tanker contract until Congress can review the decision.
Chicago-based Boeing, which has been supplying air-to-air refueling tankers to the Air Force for nearly 50 years, had been widely expected to win the deal.
The contract to build up to 179 tankers is the first of three Air Force awards worth as much $100 billion to replace its entire refueling tanker fleet over the next 30 years.
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