Business

Northrop Grumman and EADS dropping Pentagon's bid, leaving Boeing the only contractor.
by Milota Sidorova

Northrop Grumman & EADS vs. Boeing in stake for Pentagon. The bidding competition for U.S. defence contract on new tankers has been reduced to the sole applicant. Northrop Grumman and its European partner EADS announced on Monday they were dropping $35 billion contract for the US Air Force. This way, there's been only one player left in the game. Northrop Grumman also said the governmental request clearly favored its rival. Boeing is now in 75-day long submitting period to propose for 179 planes. New tankers would replace fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, made also by Boeing. The planes have been in use since 1950's. Boeing is now loosing its arch-rival Airbus. The company sai! d it was intending to provide new-generation of multi-role tankers that require less fuel supplies. Models comparing EADS's Airbus A330, should be smaller, but capable to refuel fighters in mid-air. The company announced it would be a transformed version of 767 commercial plane.The competition, however is of larger history – Pentagon has been seeking for new contractor since 2003. Although it made a deal with Boeing initially, the contract was dropped due an ethics scandal of its representative and an Air Force official. Later on, it favored Northrop Grumman and EADS's Airbus for its increased stability and low risk during the missions.Seven years later, the case is not solved. The winner remained unclear – till late Monday. With Northrop Gumman & EADS leaving the bid, Boeing is the only one and possible contractor for Pentagon. But still, the tortured contest may not be over.

related story (sgx16699): http://www.france24.com/en/20100309-northrop-grumman-eads-dr...

by Milota Sidorova for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

SigEx Ventures's matrix of properties are quickly becoming leaders in digital telebroadcasting, free content delivery allowing people to easily talk, view, upload and share through free online TV broadcasting, free unlimited global calls, video blogs and SMS. SigEx Ventures invests in projects deploying "free" to add-on royalty revenue models

posted by Blog TechSource @ 11:08 PM