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Lockheed put forth some nice drawings and posters of...a souped-up P-3. Boeing actually put together a flying prototype and began serious design work, with the finished product dates included.

They were much more enthusiastic about getting the contract, and the work they did proved that. Lockheed took a "ah, well, if we HAVE to..." approach.

Lockheed put forth some nice drawings and posters of...a souped-up P-3. Boeing actually put together a flying prototype and began serious design work, with the finished product dates included.

Yes, either Lockeed thought they had it in the bag, or they didn't want the contract, because they didn't pursue it nearly as hard as they should have. If they didn't want to go the P-3 route, they should have gone with a C-130 modification. On the other hand, they may have figured Boeing was going after the contract the same way they went after the aerial refueling contract, and it wasn't worth the expense to put together a full presentation.