Tanker bid delayed another week

The Defense Department will further delay the process of replacing the Air Force’s Eisenhower-era refueling tanker likely into next week if not later, according to Pentagon sources.

The Pentagon had expected to issue the request for proposals for building the tanker last week, but then Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman had expressed optimism that the request would go out by the end of this week. Now it appears to have been pushed back again, sources said.

{mosads}The competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman for the $35 billion contract to replace the decades-old tankers has turned into an intense and vicious lobbying campaign.

Northrop Grumman had partnered with EADS North America, the parent company of Airbus, and initially won the contract at the end of February. But Boeing protested the award with the Government Accountability Office and the GAO recommended that the contract be re-bid.

Now, the Pentagon leadership — which took the contract over from the Air Force — is facing an interesting dilemma: Boeing has threatened to pull out of the competition if it is not granted more time — six months in total — to submit its new proposals.

If Boeing pulled out, there could be an uproar in Congress over the lack of competition for such a significant contract. If the Pentagon does not grant Boeing six months to pull together the bid, Boeing’s vocal supporters in Congress will not let the issue die down.

Several senators, including defense appropriators Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), have asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to grant Boeing more time. Boeing has argued that the Pentagon has changed the requirements in its draft request for proposals. The Pentagon’s intent with the draft request was to heed the GAO recommendations.

Boeing already has met several times with Pentagon officials to discuss the issue.

If the Pentagon does extend the bidding process, the decision would slip into a new administration and a mostly Democratic House and Senate.

Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama is from Chicago, where Boeing has its headquarters. He was critical of the award to a European company and vowed to examine the deal.

One of Obama’s top national security advisers, former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig, indicated to The Hill during the Denver convention that “two competitors are welcome” for the tanker contract and that the Pentagon should give Boeing more time.

On the other hand, the Republican hopeful Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was instrumental in thwarting a corrupt lease deal between the Air Force and Boeing four years ago.