Tanker Truths

06 May 2008
Conservative Activists Repeats False Claims
In an op-ed in Investor's Business Daily, conservative activist Kerri Houston repeats many of the false assertions Boeing's backers are making in trying to overturn Northrop Grumman's contract to build America's next generation of aerial refueling tankers.

In her IBD column, Houston falsely claims "the Pentagon has outsourced a $35 billion contract to design and manufacture the Air Force's new airborne refueling tankers to a European consortium and its minority American partner, Northrop Grumman."

Houston gets it exactly wrong. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman won the contract; EADS North America, whose parent is a European company, is a key subcontractor.

Next, Houston alleges that EADS has a history of bribery and corruption, and close relationships with the governments of Iran and Venezuela. In fact, there's no relationship between EADS and those countries.

Houston then alleges that the Pentagon "called for a midsize refueling tanker," and states that Northrop Grumman's plane is too big and doesn't fit the criteria listed in the Air Force's Request For Proposal.

In fact, the Air Force conducted what even Boeing praised as a fair, open and transparent bidding process in which each bidder was constantly informed of what the Pentagon was looking for in a new tanker. Not only did Boeing not protest the bidding terms when it had the chance, but the Air Force RFP made clear that bidders would get extra credit for an aircraft that exceeded the minimum requirements the Air Force was looking for. The Air Force said Northrop Grumman's larger aircraft provides flexibility and better value to taxpayers than Boeing's proposed aircraft.

Then, Houston insults the integrity both of Senator John McCain - who uncovered a Boeing bribery scandal involving a tanker lease deal - and the Air Force by stating that "the Air Force's criteria were apparently adjusted to meet the proposal" Northrop Grumman offered.

In fact, McCain only asked that there be a competitive bidding process. And the bribery scandal that led led to the jailing of a Boeing official and a former Air Force officer in the tanker lease scandal is why the Air Force made certain that the eventual bidding process was open and transparent.

Ironically, at the completion of Houston's protectionist arguments, she is identified as a senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Liberty, a group whose Web site says it is dedicated to "fostering free markets."

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