The Tanker Saga Goes On

This just in from the Post's Pentagon contracting writer Dana Hedgpeth:

The tanker angst continues.

It seems that Pentagon folks are irked about an ad that Northrop Grumman ran in The Washington Post on Wednesday, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

In the ad, Northrop claimed that the first batch of its Airbus planes -- 68 in all -- would cost about $3 billion less than Boeing's modified 767s. Northrop attributed the data to an unnamed "senior DOD official."

Oh my, anonymous sources even in ads these days.

You will recall that the tanker contract has been a source of much teeth gnashing on all sides. The $40 billion deal to build the new aerial refueling tankers was originally awarded to Northrop Grumman and its partner European Aeronautics Defence & Space Co. in February. Boeing protested and won an appeal from the Government Accountability Office. That set off a re-bid of the entire deal. But Pentagon officials punted that decision to the next administration.

As for the ad, the WSJ identified the senior official quoted as John Young, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer. In the ad, Northrop quoted Young, anonymously, as saying "A member of the American public might conclude that Boeing sought to charge more than the Defense Department reasonably expected."

In a Thursday briefing of reporters, the story says, Young was quoting as saying he didn't appreciate Northrop quoting him. "I called the company and said, 'I don't appreciate this and I don't think it's necessary," the story quoted him as saying.

Boeing apparently declined to comment.

This is clearly more fodder to test the mettle of the incoming administration. One way to look at it: It gives them another chance to show their stuff, right?

By Robert O'Harrow |  November 24, 2008; 11:14 AM ET competition
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