Murray: “Airbus/Northrop Up to Old Tricks with Drop-Out Threat”

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash), today responded to Airbus and Northrop Grumman’s transparent attempt to once again press the Air Force into tilting the tanker competition in their favor by threatening to drop out of the competition.

“Today’s threat by Airbus to drop out of the tanker competition unless the rules are changed in their favor is no surprise.  This is a new competition, but the players are the same and Airbus is up to its same old tricks.  

“When the last draft Request for Proposal was released, Airbus threatened to drop out unless the requirements were tilted in its favor and they are using the same tactics this time around.   The end result was a bad deal for our warfighters, our taxpayers, and yet another delay in getting a new tanker into the hands of our military.

“The Air Force and the Pentagon shouldn’t be fooled by Airbus’ tricks.  It’s time to move forward with a fair and transparent competition based on the needs of our military, not the bullying of an illegally subsidized foreign competitor who has made no secret of its attempts to undermine the American aerospace industry and the jobs it supports.”