Posted on 06/18/2008 11:08:11 AM PDT by jazusamo
WASHINGTON
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
So much for the Dems saying they want “better relations with our allies”.
Sarkozy ought to be on the air right now ripping them up for interfering AFTER all the bids and specs have been revealed.
My guess is that the AF, congress, and the court will tire of this whole mess by November....then a whole new bid will be ordered. The EDS crowd will just give up...and thus we get a tanker....with no competition...which is what Boeing all along.
Why win tenders when you can just sue?
And then we’ll wonder why our European “partners” will jump off the JSF/F-35 project.
Apparently, trade only works one way for congress and Boeing.
I really don’t know what to think of any of it, it’s a political can of worms.
I believe this is a good sign for Boeing....I think. Since I don’t know much about those type of things, isn’t the other contracted company French?
I don’t know exactly how concerned the Europeans will be. The Airbus Tanker was going to be assembled here in the US. Labor is what the Euros want.
Bad news for Mobile, Alabama - where the “French” tanker would have been built.
It is a good thing.
The GAO press release is out on the GAO’s website (www.gao.gov).
GAO: “The Air Force did not assess the relative merits of the proposals in accordance with the evaluation criteria identified in the solicitation. . .”
GAO: “the Air Force has made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome. . .”
GAO: “The Air Force conducted misleading and unequal discussions with Boeing. . . “
Etc.
Strong words, very strong.
Besides having trouble keeping track of nukes, I wouldn’t be surprised if the award of this contract to the frenchies played a part in the recent dismissal of the Sec. of the Air Force and the Air Force Chief of Staff.
There’s a diagram out there somewhere with the parts content.
Significant chunks will be built and assembled in Europe (fuselage sections and wings, IIRC) and then shipped to America for final assembly.
More than enough labor to remain in Europe to make it profitable.
And just words.
The only thing the goobermint really produces.
Sound and fury.
Or, just maybe, somebody in the GAO is looking for a cushy Boeing job in the near future?
More often true, than not.
The entire GAO post can be read here
http://www.mobilebaytimes.com/gao_1_.pdf
Having read the Boeing protest submittals beforehand I was not surprised by the outcome. The government’s bias in the tanker competition was appalling. Sue Payton should be the next AF civilian to get her walking papers.
Having said that getting a new competition is one thing, actually winning the new contest is another. Maybe on the next go round the AF can write clearer specifications on what they are looking for.
This contract would have provided alot of jobs in Alabama. I'm sick of hearing how this is a French co.
Do people forget that Boeing also has offshore manufacturing?
Boeing is being a crybaby and it appears it's working.
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