Air force worried tanker competition will spawn more protests

0 Comments | AFP, September, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A top air force general expressed concern Wednesday that a 35 billion dollar competition to build a new air refueling aircraft will face protests by the loser no matter which company wins.

Boeing protested when the contract was awarded to a team led by Northrop Grumman earlier this year, forcing the Pentagon to backtrack and revise its request for proposal for a next generation KC-X tanker.

The final revised request for proposal, or RFP, has yet to be made public, although it was expected last week, and the companies have mounted an increasingly bitter campaign that has aroused the Congress.

"When the RFP comes out I'm not sure that one side or the other side doesn't protest again," said General Arthur Lichte, head of the air force's Air...