We have reason to believe that there are still strong factions within the Northrop-EADS teams who support going forward with a bid.
There are equally strong factions who believe that a protest to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that the RFP is unfair.
http://leehamnews.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/northrop-may-decide-on-kc-x-this-week-or-next/
Who Needs Northrop Grumman Anyway?While we're all waiting for Northrop Grumman to decide whether it wants to play, let's consider what could happen if they don't submit a bid for the $35 billion tanker contract.
In the absence of a Northrop-led proposal, what would stop EADS North America from submitting its own bid for the KC-X deal?
I can think of reasons why they would. If price is such a factor in the competition, cutting out the US flag bearer and bringing systems integration in-house might save some money. EADS NA has demonstrated it can win an aircraft contract from the US military. The 100th UH-72 Lakota for the US Army rolls off the assembly line in Mississippi next week. The company believes its solid performance on LUH allows it to compete on fair terms with American-owned companies for other Pentagon contracts.
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