Thanks, EB. I wonder how the Pentagon is going to deal with the fact a contract was signed with Northrop?
Sounds like the America-hater free-traders arent gonna be happy with this.
Its been a bad week or so for the free-traders....first Wal Mart plans to buy local US ag-products instead of Commie Chinese and NAFTA ag-products....now this non-American tanker deal is getting re-bid
the contract with Northrop-Grumman-Airbus was contingent on survival of protest challenge.
Not to worry, the feds couldn't get a contract out in less than 18 months if the fate of the world depended on it.
There has been an announcement of selection, probably a letter of intent or interim funding vehicle (can't remember the term for 'not really the contract just yet, here's money'), and a memorandum of understanding (or agreement) that comes before the contract itself. Historically, memos of understanding require tons of review and are not enforceable. Historically, memos of agreement CAN be enforced once signed but I think that is dropping away these days.
In any event Lockheed/Airbus will probably be able to collect reasonable startup / termination costs that could be quite sizable due to the nature of this thing. It would be interesting to see how DOD factors in the costs already flushed away by the first exercise.
Negative note:
AF will go into this with hurt feelings in any event, more problematic if Boeing does get the selection - which I think is likely at this point since Airbus had to have been implicated in at least the breaking of communications taboos and was directly responsible for the changes to specification.