Source: EADS Wants To Bid On Tanker

A European source tells Reuters that EADS wants to bid on the new Air Force tanker contest. According to the source who was not authorized to speak publicly, "It looks like (they) are going for it. EADS can't afford not to."

It's no secret that EADS wants to get into the American defense market. They have even promised to build cargo planes at Brookley Field if they win the tanker contract.

But, their American partner Northrop Grumman hasn't decided what to do about the tanker contest yet.

According to Northrop spokesman Randy Belote, "I acknowledge that we are getting closer to a decision however until we have completed our analysis of the final RFP and discussions with our teammates, we will defer further comments.

Northrop spent $200,000,000 dollars on the last contest only to be stripped of that win in 2008 when Boeing successfully protested.

The new contest started last week and a defense expert calls it a "gift to Boeing from the Obama Administration."

Local Northrop backers also believe the new contest favors Boeing.

Sources tell us that the Northrop/EADS team will meet and discuss their options as early as Wednesday.

If Northrop decides not to bid, it could protest to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) or file a lawsuit against the U.S. Government for giving Boeing pricing information from the previous contest.