Tanker Truths

31 Mar 2008
Boeing falsely claims Nortrop Grumman win will cause American job losses
Among the many falsehoods spread by Boeing and its allies in the wake of the Air Force decision to award Northrop Grumman Corporation the contract to build America's new tanker relates to jobs. Without any evidence whatsoever, Boeing has been attempting to stir up anger by claiming that American jobs will be lost.

This patently untrue claim was the theme of a story that ran in a recent edition of the Hartford Courant headlined, "Home Team Rally: Larson Tells Pratt Machinists Air Force Should Buy American." In the article, Representative John Larson (D-CT) asks the question, "Why isn't the home team getting it?"

With all due respect to the Congressman, the home team is getting it. In fact, Northrop Grumman will involve 230 suppliers in 49 American states in the development of the KC-45. The project will support 48,000 American jobs (more jobs in more states, we might add, than Boeing would have supported had it won).

Furthermore, Boeing is firmly committed to outsourcing. First, the tanker it proposed building would have had multiple foreign partners, including China, Japan, and Italy.

And what's more, while the Courant story focuses on an illusory job loss at engine maker Pratt & Whitney due to Boeing's fifth-in-a-row failure to sell its tanker design, Boeing's current tanker, the KC-135R has always flown with engines built by a French company.

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