Pentagon to brief lawmakers on final tanker bidding request

Air Force and Pentagon officials will brief lawmakers this week on the final request for bids in the controversial midair refueling contract.

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday that he, Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn and the Pentagon acquisition chief, Ashton Carter, will brief lawmakers with interest in the Air Force’s tanker contract on Wednesday.  Pentagon officials held similar briefings when they issued a draft of the request for proposals late last year.

“We will be prepared tomorrow to roll out the [request for proposal],” Donley said during an Armed Services hearing on his service’s 2011 budget request.

Northrop Grumman, teamed with EADS North America, has been going head to head with Boeing for the contract to replace the Eisenhower-era tankers. EADS is the parent company of Airbus, Boeing’s rival on the commercial aircraft market. Northrop Grumman and EADS last February won the contract for the new tanker, but Boeing successfully protested the award with the Government Accountability Office. The Pentagon subsequently decided to reopen the competition.

After that, Northrop Grumman and EADS threatened in December to pull out of the competition. The companies complained that the new bidding process was stacked against them and that without changes to the selection criteria, they could not submit an offer.

The Air Force has been making changes to the formal request for the proposal, but Pentagon officials refuted any notion that they are making adjustments to the request document to favor either of the competitors.

Donley told lawmakers on Tuesday that he believed both companies have the chance to win the competition.