EADS bagging the US Air Force’s $40 billion deal for Flight Refuelling Aircraft has raised a storm of protest and miffed Boeing IDS. But shutting out the din and brouhaha brings forth a clearer picture of sound logic.

The recent decision by the us air force to Award a $40 billion (Rs 1,61,680 crore) contract for supply of 179 Flight Refuelling Aircraft (FRA) to a consortium of Northrop Grumman and European firm EADS North America, has left the world’s second-largest aerospace and defence contractor Boeing IDS bewildered and a deeply divided Congress in fierce debate. This initial order has the potential to be enlarged in due course to 500 aircraft worth $100 billion (Rs 4,04,046 crore).

To an independent observer, an European aerospace major supplying aerial refuelling tankers—a vital and critical component of air power—to the USAF would appear both illogical and incongruous. It is, therefore, not surprising that Boeing should protest and even demand the USAF explain the rationale for rejecting their bid. At an investors conference in New York on March 5, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems President and CEO Jim Albaugh explained: Our view is that the US Air Force is buying a more costly and less capable aircraft and is taking on risk in doing so. We need to be debriefed to understand why our conclusion is different from the air force’s. A couple of days later, soon after it had been debriefed by the USAF, a company statement quoted Vice President and Program Manager of the KC-767 tanker Mark McGraw as saying: While we are grateful for the timely debriefing, we left the room with significant concerns about the process in several areas, including program requirements related to capabilities, cost and risk; evaluation of the bids and the ultimate decision. Finally, on March 10, Boeing announced it would file a formal protest asking the Government Accountability Office to review the decision by the USAF. Jim McNerney, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: Based upon what we have seen, we continue to believe we submitted the most capable, lowest risk, lowest Most Probable Life Cycle Cost airplane as measured against the air force’s Request for Proposal.