Posted on 12/29/2010 9:26:05 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Boeing tries the back door
by The Anniston Star Editorial Board
Anniston Star
Dec 29, 2010
You have to give Boeing Co. and its political allies credit. When it comes to securing the $40 billion Air Force refueling tanker contract, they don’t give up.
What does it matter if Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Air Force feel that Boeing’s tactics are, in the words of U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, “underhanded.”
What do they care if their efforts represent, as U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, put it, “an unacceptable political attempt” to confuse and delay the acquisition of these much-needed planes.
Why should they follow procedure and notify U.S. Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., the ranking member and soon-to-be chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, of a bill they wanted to slip through a Congress that was hurriedly trying to finish its business and adjourn?
Who cares? Not Boeing and friends.
What Boeing’s political allies did was introduce at the 11th hour the “Defense Level Playing Field Act,” which would require the Pentagon to factor in a yet unresolved World Trade Organization dispute over subsidies to tanker companies when it selects the company to receive the contract. Gates, the Air Force and others rightly see this as having little to do with this competition. Nevertheless, Boeing got a tired and distracted Congress to approve the measure.
Sessions called it the “Boeing Preservation Act” and vowed to kill it in the Senate. Observers feel he has the support to do it. Good for Sessions.
Of course, this page wants Boeing’s competitor EADS to win the contract because it will mean a $600 million assembly facility in the Mobile area and thousands of good jobs for Alabama people.
But there are other reasons Alabamians should want EADS to prevail. The EADS tanker, defense analysts say, is better suited for what the Air Force requires.
Moreover, if the contract is let early next year, production can begin and the Air Force will sooner get the tanker that it has named its top priority.
It is disappointing to see that the Alabama, Florida and Mississippi delegations were not able to block this bill in the House, where most members were apparently caught by surprise and did not mount serious opposition to it. Now it becomes the task of Sens. Sessions and Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, to do a better job for the state and the region.
Frankly making our military dependent on European products is just plain silly and stupid. What have we learned from WWI and WWII...saving Europe from domination! Muslim populations in all of Europe are approaching 10% and more and eventually will overrun Europe in revolution and war, aided by Irans development of an OJT offensive nuclear war strategy.
Whine...Snivel...Sniff...Sniff..
Do a little research. Both tankers will be made in the US from parts all over the world. Neither one is a “US” product and the EADS tanker is just plain better.
Boeing was and is counting on the fact that no one will look further in this competition than their name.
Boeing makes a better product hands down.
The Airbus will be assembled in Toulouse France then flown to Mobile AL for the modifications.
Is that why the only two contracts the 767 has won have been riddled with delays and complaints while the Airbus has won orders from 4 customers, all of whom are solid US allies.
I’m from Alabama; but, I presently live in Kansas - so I have two dogs in the same fight.
What EADS is doing by splitting production of various parts between states and continents (in order to be ‘American made’) doesn’t seem efficient. I know Boeing will also split it up between Kansas and Washington, but at least everybody building it will speak the same language.
Also, I trust Boeing. They have a long history of supplying planes to the military. They’re ‘local’. EADs? Nope, don’t trust them. Not local.
An Airbus won’t fit in the hangar… wingspan to large
So sad to see my state politicians whore themselves out to the Europeans.
But then again, the USAF didn’t seem to mind that as it selected Airbus the first time around. So what exactly is happening?? Why are the USAF biased (if you call it that)?
Boeing and its supporters also whore themselves out by having suppliers across Asia and Europe. But play the ‘MADE IN AMERICA’ card to win the KC-X.
Well,........... What with the new Lavender Brigades and all that, perhaps the back door approach will get them some brownie points.
Just sayin’
An Airbus won’t fit in the hangar… wingspan too large
Nothing Airbust ever made was better than Boeing!
I’ve worked on both and can testify,
There’s no way in hell an Airbus will last 50 years, they are throwaways aircraft meant for the airlines, not military use… whereas the Boeing is a flying tank.
Airbus in ‘Junk’
So I guess the USAF (in 2008) and four other air forces are a bunch of fools for wanting the Airbus.
Boeing maintenance cost half that of an Airbus product
The 767/757 is the best Boeing ever built
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