Setting the Record Straight on Air Force Tankers

By Dr. Ronald D. Sugar, Chairman and CEO, Northrop Grumman Corporation

The U.S. Air Force urgently needs new aerial-refueling tankers. Its aging fleet of Eisenhower-era tankers is on average nearly 50 years old, and is being pushed hard to support ongoing military operations.

After a lengthy competition between Northrop Grumman and Boeing for the Air Force KC-X Tanker program, described as the most rigorous and transparent acquisition process in Defense Department history, the Air Force announced on Feb. 29 that it had selected Northrop Grumman to build 179 new tankers. This major contract is valued at approximately $35 billion.

We are delighted the Air Force chose the Northrop Grumman team to deliver the world's most capable aerial-refueling aircraft to our brave air crews. Northrop Grumman's first KC-45 aircraft is built and is ready for modifications that will make it into a military refueling tanker. We are committed to giving the Air Force what it needs, on time and on budget. But, now some supporters of the unsuccessful bidder are calling to reverse this tanker selection on political grounds, which will further delay this badly needed program. This attempt should concern all Americans.

Since the award announcement, much misinformation has been circulated in the halls of Congress and repeated in the media. Some have labeled the KC-45 a "French" tanker won by a French company. Others have charged that the award to Northrop Grumman will hurt America's defense industrial base and send jobs overseas. A few legislators want the contract decision overturned or funding blocked. Frankly, I am disturbed by this reaction, and I feel the need to set the record straight.

Northrop Grumman is an American defense-technology company with 120,000 employees. We built the B-2 Stealth Bomber, America's nuclear aircraft carriers, the Global Hawk unmanned system and hundreds of other defense systems. We are now the prime contractor for the KC-45 Tanker program. EADS North America is a major subcontractor, along with General Electric Aviation, Sargent Fletcher, Honeywell, Parker, AAR Cargo, Telephonics and Knight Aerospace.

Let there be no doubt — Northrop Grumman won this competition fair and square. The Air Force carefully followed the laws Congress passed and ran the most carefully scrutinized source-selection process ever conducted. The Air Force selected the Northrop Grumman KC-45 for the two most important reasons — because it provides the best capability for our war fighters and the best value for American taxpayers. Any effort by Congress to undo the award to Northrop Grumman and its partners would have unprecedented long- term implications for our national defense, and for the industry which supports it. It would clearly undermine the integrity of the government-procurement process. Changing the rules all agreed to play by after the game is over is simply not the American way.

Northrop Grumman's KC-45 tanker will create or support 48,000 new direct and indirect American jobs with 230 U.S. suppliers in 49 states. Despite the rhetoric coming from some quarters, no U.S. workers will lose their jobs and no current U.S. jobs are being sent to Europe. On the contrary, our KC-45 tanker will contribute to development of a robust new U.S. aerospace corridor in the Southeast and bring additional new commercial work to the region as well.

Some critics fault the KC-45 tanker for its foreign content, but the fact is that all commercial jetliners today, and indeed many major U.S. weapon systems, are built from a global supply chain and contain parts produced by our U.S. allies. Examples include the president's new Marine One helicopter, the Joint Strike Fighter, the Stryker combat vehicle, the Light Utility Helicopter, the Joint Cargo Aircraft, and even the venerable KC-135 tanker. Often lost in the calls for protectionism is the fact that our allies purchase many times more military equipment from America than we do from them.

In the Air Force tanker-replacement program, both aircraft, Boeing's KC-767AT and Northrop Grumman's KC-45, are based upon wide- body commercial aircraft. Boeing's aircraft is assembled in Washington state and includes parts made in Japan, Italy, the United Kingdom and Canada. The KC-45, which will be assembled in new factories in Mobile, Ala., is based on the successful, modern A330 commercial airliner developed by EADS. The KC-45 aircraft will be assembled from parts made in the United States, England, Spain, Germany and France. In fact, approximately 60 percent of the KC-45 is U.S. content from U.S. suppliers. The Northrop Grumman KC-45 is America's new tanker.

The decision by the Air Force to award the contract to Northrop Grumman has been protested by our competitor, which is its right under the law. There is a legal process to resolve protests, and this process should be allowed to run its course. Meanwhile, let's not change the rules of the KC-45 procurement after the fact. And let's work to prevent political intervention, based on emotion and misinformation, from overriding the Air Force's careful procurement process. All of us need to focus on what's truly important, and that's providing the best tanker for the brave men and women defending our nation in the decades to come.