WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday that he has not yet taken a decision on reviewing the 35-billion-dollar refueling air tanker deal feud between Boeing and Northrop Grumman, but acknowledged problems with the contract.
On June 18, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, backed a protest by US aerospace giant Boeing over the huge aerial refueling tanker contract awarded to rival Northrop Grumman and its European partner EADS, and recommended the US Air Force review the deal.
"I haven't made any decisions yet," Gates said. "But I would say that I take the GAO report very seriously. They've clearly pointed out some areas where we were deficient.
"We've clearly had problems with the tanker contract. And this time around is not the first time, obviously. And so, I think I need to get a better feel for the GAO report and for the criticisms and the nature of the criticisms that they have made."
Gates said that he was "continuing to talk about this and figure out the right way forward" with top Pentagon officials, including those in charge of Pentagon and Air Force purchases.
"I know that there were a number of areas in which they (the GAO) found that the process was done correctly. And so, I need to weigh that," Gates said.
The recommendations of the powerful congressional investigative arm, although non-binding, are usually heeded.
The new refueling planes are to replace the Air Force's fleet of aging tankers made by Boeing, which had been the sole supplier of air refueling planes to the US military.
EADS, the parent company of Airbus which had teamed up with Northrop Grumman to win the contract, saw the deal as a key plank in efforts to break into the US military market.
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