The Department of Defense (DoD) was forced in June to rebid the contract after congressional auditors found flaws in the air force's decision to award it to Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), parent of Airbus.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) audited the bidding process after Boeing challenged the decision.

Boeing's defeat by a European company had raised protectionist hackles in the US Congress and shocked the market. Boeing has been the sole supplier of the refueling tankers.

The Pentagon contract is for 179 aircraft, the initial phase of a fleet replacement project worth some 100 billion dollars over the next 30 years.

A Boeing withdrawal from the rebidding would leave the lucrative contract without competition.

Boeing spokesman Dan Beck told AFP that his company needs six months to present a new bid because the company believes the new requirements now call for a plane that can carry more fuel than the original proposal.

"We have asked the Pentagon to allow a six-month timetable for submittal of proposals in this competition," he said in a phone interview.

"The reason we're asking for that is since the issuance of the draft request for proposal (RFP) two weeks ago, as we've engaged in our discussions with the Pentagon, and .... they're asking for a different kind of airplane than they asked for in the first competition."

Beck added, "If we don't get the sufficient time to prepare that proposal, there's really little option for us other than to no-bid in this competition."

The Boeing spokesman said that after three meetings between Boeing and Pentagon officials, the company has concluded the new bid will require a plane capable of carrying more fuel than the plane it originally offered.

"This is a new competition. Make no mistake about that. The requirements have changed," Beck said.

Shares in Boeing soared 3.15 percent to close at 65.55 dollars in New York trade.

At a news briefing, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to reveal the specific timelines for the RFP to be released next week.

"The proposal will have the specific timelines in it. I'm not going to get into it now. And whether or not a company desires to compete is entirely up to them," he said.

Asked about Boeing's request for a six-month timetable, Whitman said the DoD "is interested in moving ahead in an expeditious fashion.

"We have taken what the GAO has told us, what they have recommended for us to do, which in the scheme of the overall proposal were relatively minor but important, addressed all the concerns that the GAO raised," he said.

Northrop Grumman, in a brief statement issued later in the day, said "it views any delay to the amended request for proposal for the tanker replacement program as harmful to the warfighter and that a delay will result in a direct escalation in cost to the government thereby harming American taxpayers."

The air force initially decided it preferred Northrop's KC-45 entry, a militarized version of the Airbus 330, because it was larger and could carry more fuel and cargo than Boeing's KC-767, a modified version of the Boeing 767.

The GAO in June upheld Boeing's challenge of that decision, saying it found "significant errors" in the evaluation of the two bids.

The air force's attempts to find a replacement for its aging tanker fleet have run into setback after setback, beginning with a procurement scandal in 2003 that dashed its plans to lease the aircraft from Boeing.

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