US defense secretary enters air tanker controversy

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was scheduled to meet Wednesday with officials in charge of Pentagon and Air Force purchases to discuss the controversial 35-billion-dollar refueling tanker deal.

On June 18 the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, backed a protest by aerospace giant Boeing over a huge aerial refueling tanker contract awarded to rival Northrop Grumman, and recommended the US Air Force review the deal.

The decision could wrest the contract from Northrop Grumman and its European partner EADS in a battle fraught with protectionist overtones.

The recommendations of the powerful congressional investigative arm, although non-binding, are usually heeded.

The new refueling planes...