House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee Backs Down From Strong Rhetoric

After months of posturing about splitting a potential multi-billion dollar contract for new air-to-air refueling tankers between Boeing and Airbus, Representative John Murtha has backed down from his rhetoric and will apparently allow the Pentagon to decide which tanker best suits its needs, or if the order should be split.

A330 Tanker

Nowhere in the defense appropriations bill finally passed by the full committee is language insisting on a split contract between Boeing and Airbus. According to Defense News, the report language includes vague terms like "the committee believes" and makes references to "one or more contracts", not strong language demanding each company be given a piece of the tanker contract. Analysts said the committee could have used very straightforward language telling the pentagon to split the contract.

Since it did not, David Berteau, a former Pentagon official who is now an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said, "You can interpret the language both ways." But Bertau's analysis is that the house is going to leave the final decision up to Secretary Gates. Still, it "opens the door to a split buy," he said.

B767 Tanker

The report also says that DoD should buy the tankers more quickly than originally proposed, but does not direct that. "The committee believes that it is in the best interest of the taxpayer to pursue recapitalization at a rate of 36 aircraft per year vice 12 or 15 aircraft," according to the report. "This quantity will allow for recapitalization in one-third the time and thus allow for a rapid retirement of the current KC-135 aircraft."

DoD has already bid the replacement tankers twice, and both times the contracts have been scuttled. EADS, working with Northrop Grumman, has a tanker based on the Airbus A330 platform, while Boeing had countered with a 767-based tanker. Boeing is now proposing a tanker based on its 777 platform, which would have a similar capacity to the A330 tanker.

The Senate will not work on its version of the Defense Appropriations Bill until after the August recess.

FMI: http://appropriations.house.gov