Controversy regarding the choice of the Pentagon

Controversy regarding the choice of the Pentagon

The contract on obtaining the tanker made a lot of noise.

Boeing has asked the United States Air Force explanation on the reasons which have caused it to lose a contract of $ 35 billion for the supply of tanker aircraft, ultimately vested in EADS and Northrop Grumman. The United States Air Force must present this Friday, March 7 a report on his motives and Boeing will then decide whether or not to lodge an appeal against the decision of the Pentagon.

Since the choice of supplier, several elected officials have expressed their disapproval and their concerns about the transfer of jobs to Europe, linked to the security of sensitive technologies. This was particularly true of the candidate for the Democratic nomination for the American presidential, Hillary Clinton. Some members of Congress have also threatened to block the necessary funding.

More recently, Norman Dicks, elected Democrat of Washington State in the House of Representatives, accuses the Air Force to have changed at the last minute, the criteria for evaluation of tenders, which penalized Boeing. He said that "If Boeing had known (...) that the Air Force wanted more, he proposed the 777, instead of 767, smaller. He also indicated that the decision "will steal jobs to the American people", while "the major pieces of the aircraft will be manufactured in Europe by a group (...) subsidized."

Defence talks

Attacked from all sides, the Pentagon denies. Sue Payton, head of acquisitions for the Air Force, reiterated to the committee that the tender was conducted in a transparent manner and the integrity and recalled that "job creation and the Instead of assembly and production were not part of the evaluation criteria, in accordance with the law. "

The American Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates also had to speak, after all this controversy, noting that the tender had taken place under fair conditions and that the decision was based on merit.

Michael Wynne, secretary of state for aviation, at a separate hearing by the Committee on Armed Forces of the Senate, said: "There were nine key performance parameters and on all of them, 'Northrop Grumman plane was significantly better. " "The proposal for Boeing judge was slightly more risky, mainly because of the complexity of their bid. On the price, the proposed Northrop was considered the lowest globally. "

In a statement, Northrop Grumman affirms that "the assembly and the militarization of the tanker KC-45A will be held in Mobile (Alabama, south), which will result in the creation of approximately 2000 direct jobs in the United States." It was not the only one to welcome this agreement. In an interview with the Figaro, Nicolas Sarkozy believed that the contract signed with the American army would have been possible without the recent rapprochement it had with the United States. "When we réconcilions with the Americans, is not a welcome change and can be one minute think that the contract was won magnificently EADS for the tanker aircraft was signed in the climate of tension that has known among Americans and the French? ".