EADS Would Consider Splitting Tanker Contract

EADS says it would bid with partner Northrop Grumman Corp. for a $35 billion U.S. Air Force contract even if it has to share it with arch-rival Boeing Co.

By: Katie Hammond | WKRG-TV
Published: April 17, 2009

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PARIS (AP) - Airbus' parent company EADS says it would bid with
partner Northrop Grumman Corp. for a $35 billion U.S. Air Force
contract even if it has to share it with arch-rival Boeing Co.
EADS spokesman Pierre Bayle said Friday that EADS wants to bid
"whatever the solution" Defense Secretary Robert Gates picks for
the 179-plane contract.
Bayle confirmed comments by EADS CEO Louis Gallois in The New
York Times that the Northrop-EADS team would consider dividing the
contract with Boeing as long as EADS could build at least 12 planes
annually.
Gallois said that number is needed to support building a factory
in Mobile, Alabama.
A contract awarded to Northrop-EADS last year was overturned
after a Congressional audit found the terms unfairly penalized
Boeing's smaller plane.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)