Tankers Takeover Brookley

43 days and counting... that's how long the Government Accountability Office has to report on the fairness of the tanker contract.

If you're marking a calendar, the decision is expected on June 19, 2008.

Northrop and its partner EADS won the deal at the end of February.

Soon after, Boeing formally protested the win and that landed the deal in the hands of the GAO.

While the GAO sorts through the thousands of documents in the contest, Boeing supporters are still fighting the win in Washington.

For now, the war of words has not officially added politics to the tanker decision but that could still change.

Last week, The Senate Armed Services Committee approved the request from the Air Force for funding in 2009.

On Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee voted to trim a small portion of the funding but company officials say it won't affect the tanker deal.

If the GAO finds no flaws in the process, the tanker team will build models to showcase the layout at the groundbreaking in late June.

Local leaders are also planning a celebration on June 20th.

Check out the pictures below. These are the latest renderings of the site at Brookley Field.