“I will stand by my prediction that this will result in a typically Washington compromise: split the order between the two companies so that we wind up with fewer aircraft but pay more for each one.”
I agree. (I admit to not knowing what the real criteria were for the decision, but having worked in a source selection group, the printed instructions provided by the govt try too hard to include every possible consideration - and the weighting factors are at times so silly as to make one believe that they came from the Harvard Business School.) Actual engineering and performance parameters contained less weight than some unbelievable mamby-pamby feel-good marshmallow stuff. When I was done, I felt like Obama without a teleprompter.
Go check the history of Northrop Grumman. Not an “American” Co.? Why aren’t they stating they have abetter plane @ a better price that’s easy and cheaper to maintain? Boo-hoo you lost. I’m sick and tired of PC do-overs. As for the poster that brought up the union angle, if that’s the case I for one pray the contract stays in Northrop & their partners hands. The unions have ruined what was once the great Commonwealth of PA. they (the unions) can’t dry-up and blow away fast enough.