The U.S. Defense Department said Wednesday it will reopen the bidding process for a 35-billion-dollar contract to build the U.S. Air Force's next generation refueling tankers that was originally awarded to a partnership between Northrop and Airbus.
New request for proposals will be issued by early next month with an award coming later this year, Pentagon officials said.
The contract was earlier awarded to Los Angeles-based defense giant Northrop Grumman, which planned to build the service's new fleet of 166 aerial tankers using Airbus' A330 planes to replace the current Boeing-made KC-135 tankers.
But the awarding by the U.S. Air Force's acquisition officials drew criticism from the Congress and led Boeing to file a formal protest against the selection process. The new process will be directly under control by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office last month said that it found "significant errors" with the award, adding that Boeing might have won the contract had mistakes in evaluating the bids not been made.
In response to the Pentagon's decision to reopen the bidding process, Boeing said it looks forward to working with the new acquisition team and would take time to understand the updated solicitation to determine the right path forward for the company.
"It's encouraging that the Defense Department intends to take steps to ensure a fair and open competition that, among other things, fully accounts for life-cycle costs, such as fuel, to provide the most capable tanker at the best value for the American taxpayer," Boeing said in a statement.
Source:Xinhua
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