United States Senator Richard Shelby
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Air Force Tanker Replacement



On February 29, 2008, the United States Air Force announced that the Northrop Grumman/EADS team won the contract to build the Air Force's next generation of air refueling tankers, known as the KC-45. This decision would have resulted in a contribution of $875 million annually to Alabama's economy, an expected 1,500 jobs in Mobile and an additional 300 jobs with the follow-on commercial A330 work. While great for Alabama, this would also create tens of thousands of jobs throughout the nation and would have an annual economic impact of more than $1 billion on the U.S. economy.  The current tanker fleet is so outdated that the average plane is older than the average pilot who flies it.

As is their right, the Boeing Company protested the Air Force's decision to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and on June 18, 2008, the GAO sustained Boeing's protest and concluded that the Air Force made a number of errors that could have affected the outcome of the competition.

Although the Department of Defense announced an expedited recompetition in response to GAO’s decision, on September 10, 2008, the Department terminated the $40 billion competition, citing that a solicitation and award cannot be accomplished by the end of this Administration.

I am outraged by this decision and believe it is unacceptable that the Department of Defense would abdicate its responsibility to our men and women in uniform.  This misguided decision clearly places business interests above the interests of the warfighter.  We are a nation at war, sending our pilots into battle on planes that are largely older than they are. This approach is irresponsible, shortsighted and harmful to both the warfighter and the nation. It is my hope the new Administration will move forward quickly with this critical procurement.  I will continue to work on behalf of the warfighter and Alabama.




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