Enjoy Discounted Exercise Equipment From Leading Sales Outlets
SEARCH IT

CHANNELS
Encyclopedia Astronautica
SERVICES
 
Spacer Homebase
Pentagon to probe how Airbus lost tanker deal to Boeing
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 18, 2003
The US Department of Defense will investigate whether corrupt practices played a role in European consortium Airbus' loss of a multi-billion-dollar contract to US aircraft manufacturer Boeing, a prominent US senator said.

Senate Armed Services Committee member John McCain said the Pentagon's inspector general, Joseph Schmitz, had formally notified the panel that "sufficient credible information exists to warrant the initiation of investigation."

The Republican senator, who has been pushing for the probe for months, said Wednesday he was heartened by the decision because it was necessary to "inject much needed transparency in this bad deal."

Telephone messages with requests for comments left at the Defense Department's press office remained unanswered late Wednesday.

The controversy goes back to late 2001, when Congress authorized the Air Force to lease 100 commercial wide-body jets and convert them into refueling tanker aircraft to replace aging KC-135 planes.

Bidding for the lucrative contract were Boeing and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) or, more specifically, its Airbus subsidiary that manufactures A330 aircraft, the leading competitor of the Boeing 767.

After some deliberation -- and congressional prodding -- the Pentagon opted for Boeing, arguing in one of its documents that the selection "was based on key performance parameters, the details of the financial arrangements, and size of aircraft."

But evidence that surfaced in subsequent congressional hearings suggested that insider tips might have played a significant part in the deal that the White House's Office of Management and Budget estimated would cost the US taxpayer 26 billion dollars over 10 years.

E-mail messages written by Boeing chieftains and unearthed by members of Congress suggested that Darleen Druyun, who handled acquisitions for the Air Force at the time, may have shared confidential financial details of the Airbus offer with Boeing, thus giving the US company competitive advantage in crafting its own proposal.

"Darleen repeatedly came at us on price throughout the discussion," said one e-mail written in April 2002 by Andrew Ellis, a Boeing representative in Washington. "Darleen told us several times to keep in mind that EADS proposed price on green A330 was $5-$17M (five-17 million dollars) cheaper than green

Druyun eventually left the Pentagon for the lucrative job of deputy general manager for missile defense systems at Boeing, to which she was appointed last January.

The past few months have only increased the suspicions surrounding the deal.

A report by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, cast doubt about the very need for new tanker planes, arguing that the current fleet of KC-135s has plenty of life left.

The Congressional Budget Office, for its part, questioned the wisdom of leasing the planes versus buying them, saying that the lease arrangement would cost the treasury 37 billion dollars, or 12 billion more than a purchase.

"This leasing proposal is a bad deal for taxpayers, a bad deal for the military and a bad deal for pretty much everyone but Boeing," commented McCain.

President George W. Bush, however, strongly disagreed. "I do support it," he told The Seattle Post-Intelligencer in an interview.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Quick Links
SpaceWar
Search SpaceWar
Subscribe To SpaceWar Express

SpaceWar Search Engine
SUBSCRIBE TO THE SPACEWAR NEWSLETTER
SubscribeUnsubscribe
  

WAR.WIRE
  • UK finds underwater suspected Russian nuke spy sensors: report
  • Iran rejects Trump call for direct nuclear talks
  • Yemen Huthi media say one dead in air strikes
  • Iran says wants dialogue 'on equal footing' with US
  • India navy delivers aid to quake-hit Myanmar
  • Cambodia hails opening of naval base renovated by China
  • North Korea's Kim fires new sniper rifle while visiting troops
  • US defense chief to visit Panama next week: Pentagon
  • Burkina junta critic arrested in growing crackdown: civil group
  • Russian missile strike kills 14 in Ukraine leader's home city
    SPACEDAILY NEWS
     Feb 11, 2005
  • NASA Observations Help Determine Titan Wind Speeds
  • Cassini Spacecraft Witnesses Saturn's Blues
  • US Orientation Engine Fails On ISS
  • NASA Names Two Future Space Shuttle Crews
  • Simulations Show How Growing Black Holes Regulate Galaxy Formation
  • In The Stars: Odd Stars, Odder Planets
  • Natural Climate Change May Be Larger Than Commonly Thought
  • Earth Gets A Warm Feeling All Over
  • Satamatics Flying At Over 50,000 Terminals
  • Digital Angel To Expand OuterLink Subsidiary's Flight Tracking System
  • LockMart Delivers First Modernized GPS Satellite To USAF For May Launch
  • World's Fastest Oscillating Nanomachine Holds Promise For Quantum Computing
  • Carnegie Mellon's Red Team Seeks $2 Million Robot Racing Prize
  • Kionix Ships The World's Smallest High-Performance Tri-Axis Accelerometer
  • Northrop Grumman/Raytheon Team To Compete For GOES-R System
  • Blue Planet: The Fading Songs Of Whales
  • New Cameras Turn Night Into Day
  • North Korea Suspends Talks, Says It Will Build More Nuclear Bombs
  • Analysis: How Super Is The Superpower?
  • Walker's World: Why Rice Should Thank Zarqawi
  • NATO Agrees Expansion Of Afghan Force
  • North Korea Probably Bluffing Over Nuclear Threat: Australia
  • US Options Seen Limited Against Nuclear-Armed North Korea
  • Six Iraqi Policemen Killed, US Helicopters Fire Missiles To End Siege
  • Germany And Malaysia Urge Peace In Tsunami-Ravaged Aceh
  • Task Of Collecting Indonesia's Tsunami Dead Will Take Six Months: Red Cross
  • EU Brings Forward Preferential Trade Scheme For Developing Countries
  • Cambodia's Former Forestry Monitor Blasts World Bank Over Logging
  • Thales Posts Lower Sales In 2004, Missing Own Target
  • Rolls-Royce Profits Rise; Orders At Record Levels

  • The contents herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2002 - SpaceDaily. AFP Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement